Third annual Dr. Matthew Holden, Jr. Symposium Lecture held at Jackson State University

University of Illinois Springfield Professor of Political Science Dr. Matthew Holden, Jr. was recently honored during the annual symposium and lecture that bears his name. The event was held on Thursday, November 5, 2009 at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi.

Dr. Holden is the first Wepner Distinguished Professor in Political Science at UIS and is a nationally recognized expert on public administration, politics and law, urban politics and racial and ethnic relations.

"I had never expected to have a lecture named for me, and at first would not agree. But it has happened and frankly is wonderful. It is greatly encouraging that others perceive one’s own work as an example to be cited. The lecture is an effort to disseminate knowledge on a broad basis, not merely inside the classroom but to a public and community outside," said Dr. Holden.

The Symposium Lecture was given by Dr. Glenn Loury, Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences and Economics at Brown University. The title of the lecture was “Barack Obama and the Future of the Black Prophetic Tradition”.

“The first three lecturers—Ira Katznelson, Theda Sokocpol, and now Glenn Loury ---are all persons of such caliber that they outrank oneself by a long mile,” said Dr. Holden. “Next year’s invited lecturer, Dianne Pinderhughes, will equally enrich the list. Her work on African American participation, and the Voting Rights Act, will also be relevant to the course I am going to offer on “The Changing Regime".

Dr. Holden was not able to attend this year’s lecture, due to teaching commitments at UIS, but his wife, Dorothy, was able to represent them both at the symposium.

In 2004, Dr. and Mrs. Holden donated their personal library of more than 4,000 volumes to the Jackson State University Center for University Scholars. The Center facilitates faculty research productivity and encourages academic discourse. It hosts an annual symposium for recipients of summer research grants. In recognition of Professor Holden’s accomplishments and his generous donation to JSU, the Center has named a reading room and this lecture in his honor.

Environmental Studies faculty member to speak at International Day of Climate Action event

Dr. Stefano Longo, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, will be speaking at an International Day of Climate Action event in Springfield. It will take place on October 24, 2009 at 11:30 a.m. on the Old State Capitol plaza.

Springfield, along with others cities in 111 countries, is trying to attract awareness to the severity of the issue of climate change. Dr. Longo will address this from the perspective of social change and environmental justice.

Dr. Longo has only been a member of the UIS faculty for a couple of months, but has taken an active role in the community. He recently provided the local PBS station with an introduction to the new Ken Burns documentary on U.S. National Parks.

For more information on International Day of Climate Action in Springfield visit: http://sites.google.com/site/springfield350/home

UIS continues Lincoln Legacy

The University of Illinois Springfield continues its dominance as a leading institution in the study of the life of President Abraham Lincoln. The 2009 Lincoln Legacy Lecture series was held on October 15, 2009 focusing on “Lincoln and the Environment”.

Dr. Mark Fiege, associate professor of History at Colorado State University, Ft. Collins talked about how Lincoln’s views on the environment were shaped by his time on the farm working outdoors in Illinois. Dr. Fiege is the author of a book on the environmental history of the United States that is forthcoming from the University of Washington Press in its Weyerhaeuser Environmental Series.
Fiege met with a group of UIS students before his lecture to answer their questions about Lincoln.

“We’ve had a long history of top notch Lincoln scholars here and this just continues that,” said UIS History Club President Matt Parbs.

The Legacy Lecture was moderated by Dr. Michael Burlingame, professor of History and Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies at UIS. Burlingame taught History at Connecticut College for over 30 years before accepting the appointment at UIS this year. His recent two-volume biography, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008) has been described as the definitive study.

“I’m deeply honored to hold the Lynn Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies and I hope I can live up to the high standards set by my predecessor,” said Burlingame.

Burlingame travels all around the world speaking about the life of our 16th president, but plans to return to Springfield to study at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum.

Watch the entire Legacy Lecture in the Video on Demand section

UIS Adjunct Assistant Professor has work published in national journal

Dr. Boria Sax, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Philosophy at UIS, is having his article “The Magic of Animals: English Animal Familiars in the Perspective of Folklore” published in the next issue of The Journal Anthrozoos.

In the article he argues that witch trials profoundly changed human-animal relations in England and ultimately the world by demonizing the animal sages, guides, and protectors that fill traditional fairy tales, thus depriving animals of intrinsic worth so they could be either humanized as pets or brutalized as livestock. The article sheds new light on some of the most beloved fairy tales such as "The Frog Prince" and "Puss in Boots."

Sax teaches an online course at UIS entitled "Animals in Human Society", which won a national award from the Humane Society for the "best new course" of 2007.

The article will be published in both digital and print format with release expected in early to mid-November.

For more information visit Sax’s website at http://www.boriasax.com

UIS Economics Associate Professor appears on international radio program

Dr. Baker Siddiquee, economics faculty at UIS, was one of the four panelists on the Voice of America (VOA-Bangla)’s hour-long international call in show on the “Prospects of Investment in Bangladesh,” transmitted world-wide on October 8, 2009 from Washington, D.C.

The program is recorded in Bengali and can be listened here: http://www.voanews.com/bangla/2009-10-08-voa1.cfm.

The other three panelists were Ambassador Dr. A.K. Abdul Momen, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh in the United Nations; Mr. Ahmedus Samad Chowdhury, JP, Founder Director, British-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce & Industries in London and Chairman, 'S' TV Channel, London, UK; and Mr. Waliur Rahman Bhuiyan, President, Foreign Investors' Chamber of Commerce & Industries in Bangladesh & Managing Director, Bangladesh Oxygen Limited, Dhaka.

Assistant Professor of Biology receives national grant to study brain stem development

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded a Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development grant to the University of Illinois Springfield.

The $216,150 grant will help Assistant Professor of Biology Rebecca Landsberg, Ph.D. continue her research into the region of the brain known as the brain stem, which is involved in regulating sleep, breathing, and coordination of movement.

“While much is known about the function of the neurons in this region we are just beginning to get an appreciation for how these neurons arise during fetal development,” said Landsberg. “Furthermore, during gestation this region of the brain is susceptible to environmental influences such as retinoic acid (a common ingredient in facial cream) and alcohol.”

Landsberg will study the molecular events that occur during development that results in the production of different types of brain stem neurons and the effects environmental influences have upon this process.

The grant will be used to provide research opportunities in developmental biology to UIS undergraduates. Student who seek to begin a career in science greatly benefit from early exposure to the scientific research process.

“I greatly appreciate that the NIH recognizes the value undergraduates can bring to the research efforts at a school such as UIS,” said Landsberg.

The project described was supported by Award Number R15HD059922 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development or the National Institutes of Health.

For more information on the research contact Assistant Professor of Biology Rebecca Landsberg, Ph.D. at 217/206-7338 or by e-mail at rland3@uis.edu.

Associate Professor of English conducts poetry reading at Lindsay home

Nancy Genevieve Perkins, Associate Professor of English and Past Chair of the English Department, 2003-2005, who publishes and conducts creative readings under her first two names, Nancy Genevieve, gave a poetry reading at the Vachel Lindsay Home in Springfield on Saturday, August 22, 2009.

As Poet in the Parlor, she read from Vachel Lindsay's poems and then from her new work, NYX: Sister of Erebus: A Memoir in Poetry. Perkins’ new poetry is the culmination of her Spring 2009 Sabbatical. She concluded the reading with a selection of poems from the initial work of a fourth poetry book, Prairie Observations.

“I feel completely at home in the Vachel Lindsay home. There is a feeling of kinship there, just as I felt when I walked through the front door of my great grandfather's house in Paducah," said Perkins. "It is the place. And the people--Job and Jennie. And those who attend for the poetry or for the poet or just drop in that day. And perhaps a spirit of Springfield poetry, encouraging us because ‘we finally got it’-- that message he [Vachel] so wanted us to hear when he was alive.”

Approximately, fifty people were in attendance. The reading was followed by a reception in the garden of the Vachel Lindsay Home.

For more information and photos from the event visit:
http://www.aeroknow.com/arts/lindsaypoet.htm

Same-Sex Marriage arguments explored in book

Jason Pierceson, Associate Professor of Political Science and Legal Studies and at the University of Illinois Springfield, has published a book, Moral Argument, Religion, and Same-Sex Marriage: Advancing the Public Good, co-edited with Gordon A. Babst (Chapman University) and Emily R. Gill (Bradley University), with Lexington Books, a division of Rowman & Littlefield.

The book presents arguments from scholars that demonstrate the moral basis for gay rights claims on a range of issues, from the rights of youth to same-sex marriage. The book challenges the notion that moral arguments can only be used to counter gay rights claims.

According to reviews, the book “contains timely and provocative essays on a subject rightly taking center stage in national debate” and “shows how and why the contemporary case for gay rights in the United States can and should be made in substantive moral terms, appealing to the values that unite us as a free people under the rule of law.”

Professor Pierceson has taught at UIS since 2005 and currently serves as chair of the department of political science. In addition to co-editing the book, Professor Pierceson authored a chapter, “Same-Sex Marriage and the American Political Tradition.”

More information on the book is available at http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com/Catalog/SingleBook.shtml?command=Search&db=%5EDB/CATALOG.db&eqSKUdata=0739126490&thepassedurl=%5Bthepassedurl

You may also contact Jason Pierceson at 217/206-7842 or e-mail jpier2@uis.edu.

CBM Associate Professor invited to Belarus

Nancy Scannell, Associate Professor in the College of Business and Management, was invited by the Belarus State University (BSU) to deliver a finance seminar. The US Embassy Minsk supported the associated Teaching Assistant Program intended to internationalize BSU's MBA program.

The photo to the above features (left to right) three teaching assistants assigned to Nancy's seminar: Vika, Rodion and Natalia. Each is sporting a CBM bag, compliments of Dean Ron McNeil's office.

The program was a first for BSU; they plan to continue such arrangements in the future based on the positive outcome of this Embassy/BSU initiative.

Nancy also conducted two student recruitment sessions organized and hosted by the Minsk Embassy, American Councils, the European Humanities University, and Streamline (an English-language training organization).

Nancy gives thanks to UIS offices of the Chancellor, Provost and CBM Dean for additional public relations gifts which Nancy shared with BSU administrators and students and to UIS associates Samba Dieng, Rick Lane, Lori Giordono, and Jonathan GoldbergBelle for related inputs and commitment to international academic outreach.

Professor to give presentation on Abraham Lincoln video from documentary series in Denmark

UIS Assistant Professor of Digital Media Liz Murphy Thomas will be presenting at a Visual Anthropology conference titled "Transcultural Montage" at the Moesgaard Museum at the University of Aarhus in Denmark from August 24 through August 26.

The presentation will be a discussion of the Abraham Lincoln video from her series titled "Let Us Praise Famous Men." "Let Us Praise Famous Men" is a series of videos that document the creation of historical icons through film and media. (The video and a more detailed description can be found here.)

Previously this piece had been exhibited in the “Dead Video / Live Video Festival” of the Boston Cyberarts Festival 2009 hosted by the Massachusetts College of Art and at the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum in Harrogate, Tennessee where Murphy Thomas was the Lincoln Bicentennial keynote speaker.

In November, Murphy Thomas will also present on this work at a conference titled "Between History and Myth: Politics and Political Use of Abraham Lincoln" at the University of Milan in Italy.

Professor utilizes ecology background for History Channel

By Courtney Westlake



When the History Channel decided to produce a series called “Life After People,” Dr. Matt Evans, assistant professor of biology at UIS, was one of the international experts they contacted for the show.

“They were hypothetically examining what the world would look like tomorrow, a year from now, a hundred years from now, a thousand years from now, without humans – if humans were to disappear tomorrow,” Evans said. “It is an interesting hypothetical concept. I prefer to look at what the world was like before people - before dinosaurs, the Ice Age, and the evolution of humans, but the History Channel wanted to take this apocalyptic kind of twist to the idea of what the world would look like and how long it would take to recover. They wanted to ask me what the wildlife would do since I'm wildlife specialist.”

Evans is originally from Canada and earned his Ph.D. from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver in 2003. His doctoral thesis was on wildlife ecology and the effects of forestry on wetland ecosystems in British Columbia. His background fit quite nicely with the questions the crew from the History Channel had for their show.

Evans traveled up to Chicago to meet with the crew in December for a three-and-a-half hour interview to discuss things like how long it would take the wildlife to recover if humans were wiped out, what kinds of behavioral consequences might occur and what kind of competition between animals might arise that humans currently suppress.

“They also asked a number of questions about the spread of naturally-occurring diseases in the animal population, such as rabies, which humans are trying to quarantine,” Evans said. “So they asked a lot of questions about how these diseases, which humans are trying to eradicate or quarantine, how they would spread and affect the natural population of animals without humans to stop the diseases from spreading.”

Evans said he wasn’t nervous because the History Channel crew was small and relaxed.

“It was a very fun and enjoyable experience,” he said. “It was an enjoyable conversation to ask these questions and to imagine what the world might be like and what animal populations might do without humans.”

The segment aired at least three times in April – “students came up to me saying they had seen the episode on three different dates,” Evans said – and Evans was also part of a promotional commercial for the series, which reportedly even played in movie trailers. Evans was pleased with both the show and with the exposure of UIS name, which was used in a caption during his interview, both during the show and the commercial.

Evans has been teaching at UIS since August 2007. Before arriving at UIS, he spent four years teaching at Mount Allison University, one of the “top undergraduate universities in Canada,” he said. He was looking for a position in a city about the size of Springfield when the opportunity opened up to come to UIS.

“I’m happy to be here. I enjoy the city and the size of university,” Evans said. “I like that we can build a rapport with students. We know our students by their first names and a little bit about their background and why they are enrolled in a certain program.”

Evans teaches courses on ecology, conservation biology of birds and mammals, human physiology and more at UIS. He has also been conducting research in the Arctic – northern Alaska and northern Canada, by the North Pole – since 2003, and has made several trips to the Arctic for research this summer.

While there, he has been studying general wildlife ecology and Arctic animal ecology projects on a variety of species and mammals, including caribou and grizzly bears. He has also been studying several bird species in great detail including golden eagles, swans, and a number of species of ducks.

Next year, Evans is anticipating taking students up to the Arctic with him and expanding his research projects and assisting students on projects as well.

“My goal is to continue this research indefinitely,” he said. “I’d like to conduct this Arctic research annually and continue to write about it and publish papers about it and, of course, get students involved with it.”

Professor teaches economics in South Korea

Nancy Scannell, Associate Professor in the College of Business and Management, was invited by the President of Chonnam National University (CNU) in South Korea to teach Financial Economics for the University's inaugural "International Summer Semester."

CNU's initiative is intended to expose Korean students to international faculty. The photo features the two teaching assistants, Chul-hi and Youri, who Nancy was asked to train in the course of her teaching. While in South Korea, Nancy also facilitated a discussion about business ethics at the Gwangju International Center, a local community group.

English professor reads poetry at Walden Pond Poetry Series

Nancy Genevieve Perkins, Associate Professor of English, read at the Walden Pond Poetry Series on June 21 in celebration of the Summer Solstice. The poets read their works on this longest day of the year to honor and celebrate the beauty of our natural world.

This group meets in the tradition of poet Henry David Thoreau, whose work is always read at this venue.

The readings were followed by a meal at host Douglas Bishop’s home.

Perkins publishes and reads her creative works under her first two names: nancy genevieve.

English professor presents papers at annual meeting on Midwestern Literature

Nancy Genevieve Perkins, Associate Professor of English and Past Chair of the English Department, presented two papers at the 39th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature, which met in East Lansing, Michigan, from May 7 to May 9.

One of Perkins’ papers was selected to be presented in the MidAmerican Award winner’s panel. The topic of the panel was “More than Regional: Universal Writers from the Heart of the Country.”

Perkins selected the work of UIS’ English Emeritus Professor John Knoepfle. His poetry has received numerous awards throughout Springfield, Illinois, and the Midwest.

Perkins’ paper was entitled "John Knoepfle’s Early Poetry: Taking the ‘wide slow waters’ of the Sangamon to the Rest of the World." The phrase "wide slow waters" was used in Knoepfle’s poem, "confluence."

Perkins’ interview of Knoepfle for this paper was recorded and placed in UIS’ Archives for future researchers. A distillation of the paper presented at the conference noted that "John Knoepfle’s poetic voice transports the voice of MidAmerica beyond this time and this place to poetic readers of history, place, culture and to writers of poetry wherever and whenever such readers and writers begin their journeys. His voice is as timeless as the rivers’—whose rhythmic voices his poetry emulates."

Perkins’ second paper was entitled "Poems from NYX: Sister of Erebus: A Memoir in Poetry." Perkins quoted Robert Frost to contextualize her current body of work: "(A poem) ends in clarification of life—not necessarily a great clarification, . . . but in a momentary stay against confusion."

This "Memoir in Poetry" is, according to Perkins’ introduction to her reading of these new poems, "the final book in the NYX poetry trilogy; (it) focuses on my family’s journey of goodbyes, as my mother, as all of our family, struggled with her Alzheimer’s. It is a story of her journey through Erebus, a nether region in ancient mythologies between this life and the next, a ‘place of darkness through which the souls passed on their way’ to the ‘land of the dead’ [Bulfinch’s Mythology 902, 910]; (it is) a region we too will travel. This poetry is the distillation of that bleak darkness into the clarification of absolute essentials."

Commencement Moments 2009

UIS' 38th Commencement Ceremony was filled with emotional and celebratory moments as hundreds of students received their diplomas on Saturday, May 16, 2009.

Professor appointed to additional term on Springfield International Visitors Commission

Nancy Scannell, Associate Professor in the College of Business and Management, was reappointed by Mayor Timothy Davlin to the Springfield International Visitors Commission for an additional three-year term (through 2012).

Commission visitors are sent to Springfield via the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, as well as by a variety of other private and public agencies charged with developing professional programming visits for guests to the U.S.

The U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Program brings visitors to the U.S. who are current or potential leaders in their respective countries. They include politicians, bureaucrats, journalists, educators, doctors, lawyers and social service providers and are selected by American Foreign Service Officers overseas. Currently 47 Heads of Government and Chiefs of State Worldwide are alumni of the International Visitors Program, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Professor brings utility regulation focus to UIS through Ameren Professorship

By Courtney Westlake

It was purely an accident that Dr. Karl McDermott wound up as a leading expert on public utility economics and utility regulation.

McDermott was studying for his master’s degree at the University of Wyoming, pursuing a focus in money and banking.

“When one professor retired and the other one got sick, there was no money and banking anymore,” he said with a laugh. “So I ended up taking public utility economics as a placeholder and wrote my master’s thesis on it. Sometimes, you just find something when you weren’t looking for it.”

In April 2008, McDermott arrived at UIS to become the new Ameren Endowed Professor in Business and Government, a professorship that is housed in the College of Business and Management. Through his Ameren professorship, McDermott’s duties include teaching, conducting research and facilitating lectures and seminars for corporate, political and civic leaders.

Prior to being at UIS, McDermott served in numerous roles within the field of public utility economics, including being a commissioner at the Illinois Commerce Commission under Governor Jim Edgar, founding the Center for Regulatory Studies at ISU and traveling the world as a regulation consultant.

“The Ameren professorship was exciting,” he said. “I had been a consultant working in court cases and being cross-examined, and while it was interesting, I missed teaching. With the opportunity to have this endowed chair and have a chance to create a regulatory institution that could do research and educational programs, that seemed like the right thing to do. So I was willing to give up life as a consultant and traveling around the world; now I can help students get into that world, and that’s exciting.”

Through funds provided by the Ameren professorship, McDermott is planning to hire a research assistant this summer, as well as travel around the region to promote the public utility economics focus at UIS.

“One of the things I’m trying to do is reach out to the public utility community, both companies and regulators, and let them know that we’re in the market and turning out students,” he said.

McDermott is currently in the process of creating the Center for Business and Regulation at UIS within the College, he said, which is a major step for UIS’ role in the field of utility economics.

“It’s a place where I hope we can get research money and help try to solve some of the public policy problems,” McDermott said. “It will also hopefully be part of the MBA program, so we’re hoping to have a sequence in regulation so students can get a concentration in regulation or even a certificate.”

One of the first items on the list for the Center for Business and Regulation will be to host the American Gas Association annual meeting in Chicago this summer.

“I’ll be teaching some of the classes, and I’m hoping that we can use this to bring some students up there and introduce them to different people and help them with job prospects, so it has a lot of different angles,” McDermott said.

“We need more students who are interested in regulation,” he added. “This is a potential field for advancing their careers. Regulation can involve all aspects of management, and not just management but also public affairs, public policy, history and other aspects. Hopefully we can get a program up and running and turn out some students. The more we do that, the more utilities and government agencies will come looking for us to supply them with people for jobs.”

McDermott is currently teaching an ECCE (Engaged Citizenship Common Experience) class – Accounting 454 - on American economy and regulation’s role in the American economy.

“Through this class, we’re trying to introduce our students to a wide range of ways in which regulations actually impact our lives,” he said. “I tell students ‘it's from the cradle to the grave - your pediatrician is regulated all the way to your undertaker, and almost everything in between.’ There are a lot of ideas that can pop out and a lot of job opportunities. In today’s economy, where what we’ve seen is the potential failure of a free market process that didn’t have enough regulations to kind of reign it in, this all of a sudden makes the idea of studying regulations that much more important for the students. So they may see this as way of having job opportunities, and I’d like to encourage that.”

UIS professor receives educational honor at annual conference

Dr. William Phillips, UIS associate professor of Educational Leadership, received the Van Miller Distinguished Scholar Practitioner Award recently at the 2009 Illinois Association of School Administrators Annual Conference.

The Van Miller award is given to recognize "outstanding contributions through their actions and leadership to the field of education in the state of Illinois."

Van Miller served as a Superintendent in Ridgefield, CT., earned a doctoral degree at Harvard and then came to the University of Illinois as a faculty member in 1947. He is considered one of the first scholars in the area of education administration.

The list of past recipients of this award includes Illinois superintendents, professors of education, Illinois state superintendents and others recognized for their special contributions from a variety of perspectives.

The criteria for the award include: Change Agent, Scholarly Practitioner, Professional Commitment and Mentor.

English professor reads poems at Stone Soup Poetry

Nancy Perkins, associate professor of English and past chair of the English Department (2003-2005), read a selection of her poems at Stone Soup, Cambridge, MA, on March 9th. Perkins publishes and reads her creative works under her first two names: nancy genevieve.

Stone Soup Poetry is the longest running poetry venue in Massachusetts and will celebrate its 38th year in 2009. All Stone Soup poets are filmed for access public television in Cambridge and Lowell, MA.

Undergraduate students presented research at AAAS meeting

UIS undergraduates presented their research at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago last month.

Kimberly Bartosiak and Adam Waters presented "Bacterial Diversity and Water Quality in Connected and Unconnected Lakes of the Illinois River Floodplain System," while Bronson McLeod and Lindsay Zscheck presented "Antimicrobial & Antioxidant Properties of Oak and Walnut Leaves."

The papers were co-authored by biology and chemistry faculty Keenan Dungey, Wayne Gade, Michael Lemke, Amy McEuen, Gary Trammell, Lucia Vazquez and Jim Veselenak. The research was part of UIS’ Merck/AAAS Undergraduate Science Research Program.

Professor pursues love of singing outside the classroom

By Courtney Westlake



Dr. Michael Lane, Clinical Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at UIS, participated in school choirs when he was young, but then he found the trumpet in 6th grade and continued to play through junior high and high school. However, when he married his musically-inclined wife, Cathy, and moved to her hometown of Rushville, Illinois, he found a love for singing again.

“There is quite a fine arts orientation to that community,” he said. “They have a very active theater and put on many musicals both through the school and in the community.”

In around 1990, Lane and his wife had the opportunity to join the newly-formed Madrigal group in the area and became very involved with the group. The group performs two out of every three years, practicing every Sunday starting in September (and memorizing between 20 and 25 pieces) until they begin one week that includes three performances in December.

“It’s a full Madrigal performance, which means costumers, sometimes jugglers, dancers, strolling minstrels, and they serve a full Madrigal meal,” Lane said. “It’s been a wonderful experience and very well-received. It’s a bit grueling at times, but we get very good audiences; usually our shows are sold-out.”

Lane currently teaches in the College of Education and Human Services at UIS. He had stepped into just about every position possible in the public school system during his career - from coach and teacher all the way up to superintendent - but when he decided to retire, he couldn't step away from his life-long passion that easily.

So Lane finished up his doctoral degree and came to UIS to teach other teachers.

“I had taught as an adjunct professor in the Educational Leadership Department for a few years, and then I had the opportunity to come here full-time,” he said. “I really enjoy the university; I like the size of the university and the caliber of the students that are here. I feel the university does a good job in supporting us in the opportunity to be creative in our courses.”

When he first began college, Lane was a marketing major, but he found he “just missed school,” he laughed.

“I always liked school; I always very much enjoyed education,” he said. “I thought that I’d really like to teach and coach. So for many years, I taught English and physical education, and I coached football for 11 years, track for 8 years, and 2 years of basketball.”

Both teaching and singing are family-wide interests in the Lane clan. His wife Cathy minored in music in college and taught music full-time when they were first married. In addition to the Madrigals, the couple has also sung with a group called the Schuyler Singers for many years. His grown children - a son, Daniel, and a daughter, Elizabeth (also called Libby) - have both sung and performed throughout their lives as well.

“My wife is very musical; she plays many folk instruments that she learned to play on her own,” Lane said. “My son didn’t pursue music in college, but my daughter got her bachelors degree in fine arts and musical theater from Millikin and got a masters degree from Western in theater performance. She still does regional theater on weekends and evenings.”

Though getting a doctorate was always a goal of Lane’s, he didn't find the time to actually pursue one until his kids were grown and away at college because of all of his musical and family commitments.

His responsibilities at UIS now, among others, include supervising clinical experiences for students in his program, who must complete 240 hours of clinical activity experiences in about two semesters. He also teaches a blended learning course called Supervision of Instruction, so the class meets both online and in the classroom.

Lane said he has found new approaches to technology, such as blended learning, very appealing at UIS and commends the university for its willingness to explore new technology.

“I find this campus to be very dynamic and on the cutting-edge of technology,” Lane said. “The Center for Online Learning, Research and Service and Tech Support are so supportive. It’s wonderful to have that technical support here, and the university is not afraid to explore whatever is most up-to-date in technology, and that’s rather impressive.”

Published article focuses on professor's paper

The latest issue of Graduate Connections, a University of Nebraska publication, contains an article entitled “Advice for Completing a Thesis or Dissertation.”

The piece centers on a paper Kenneth Oldfield, emeritus professor of public administration, published earlier in College Student Journal.

Professor to give presentations in Michigan

Dr. Keith Miller, professor of Computer Science at UIS, is giving three invited talks at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan on Tuesday, February 17.

One talk is to the computer science faculty on the assessing students' progress in computer ethics. A second talk is to a student group on the ethical analysis of case studies.

The third and final talk is open to the public, and entitled "Kiss, kiss, kill, kill: the ethics of robots, sex and war."

For more information, go to the Grand Valley State University's events page here.

Professor delivers finance seminar in Mexico

Dr. Nancy Scannell, associate professor in the College of Business and Management at UIS, was invited to deliver a finance seminar in January 2009 to students at the Tecnológico de Monterrey Chihuahua campus in Mexico in collaboration with a designated co-professor as part of the campus' initiative to internationalize its curriculum.

While in Chihuahua, Nancy also met with students at nearby University Autonomy de Chihuahua to share information about UIS and to discuss the financing university studies in the U.S. Nancy´s presentation was organized by Mtra. Silvia Muñiz Baeza, head of the Office of Scholarships & Programs abroad for the Secretary of Education of Culture of Chihuahua Government. Nancy wishes to thank Rick Lane, director of the Office of International Student Services at UIS and Lori Giordano, UIS Admissions, for facilitating the international student recruitment endeavor.

Oldfield publishes new book

Kenneth Oldfield, emeritus professor of Public Administration, and Dr. Richard Greggory Johnson III, a colleague from the University of Vermont, are co-authors of Resilience: Queer Professors from the Working Class, recently published by State University of New York Press.

Scannell addresses Global Management Conference

Nancy Scannell, associate professor of Finance in the Department of Business Administration, was the invited keynote speaker at the International Association of the Scientific Knowledge's Global Management Conference, held in October in Portugal. Scannell spoke on "The Fate of Poison Pills for the Next Generation of Corporate Takeovers in a Poisoned Financial System."

Following the conference, she met with Lisbon Fulbright officers and a group of local students who were interested to hear about UIS and academic life in the U.S. This international student recruitment initiative was coordinated by Rick Lane, UIS director of International Student Services, and Lori Giordano, UIS associate director of Admissions.

Professor finds expression through poetry

By Courtney Westlake



While writing may not be the most lucrative of careers, Dr. Nancy Genevieve Perkins, associate professor of English, has found that writers, and especially poets, are constantly aware of what is going on around them, what is going on inside of them and are able to record it, which is a unique and interesting way of life.

“I don’t know how many of us will make a living at it, but it is a great life,” Perkins said. “Poetry I like because it distills and intensifies the emotions. One of the reasons we write is to explore both what we know and what others know and to try to come to the truth of the moment. I like exploring the terrains of the spirit and terrains of the outer world. I like the distillation and the intensity of poetry."

Perkins has written for as long as she can remember. In fact, she still has a copy of a book from her childhood that contains the scribbles of the words she used to “write” and then she would “read” her stories to her mother.

“There is not a time in my life when my family can remember me not writing,” she said. “As I grew up, I found genres - creative non-fiction, poetry and fiction. I choose a genre by what I have to say; I like to have a grab-bag of genres.”

Perkins began her undergraduate studies at the University of Kentucky before moving to Illinois to finish her bachelor degree at Illinois State University. She also earned her master’s and doctorate degrees at ISU and earned a Specialist in College Teaching from Murray State University in western Kentucky. While teaching English and directing the Writing Center at Eureka College, Perkins heard about a “wonderful job that would just be in creative writing and children’s literature” at UIS, she said, and started here in 2000.

“There are a lot of things to like about UIS,” she mused. “In the English department, we’ve had the online degree program, the Capital Scholars program and now there is a shift to having freshmen, which I adore. I like the energy of all of that.”

Perkins is teaching a class this fall in fiction writing, a graduate seminar in fiction writing and an online course in children’s literature.

“In my online children's lit class, I have students in Tokyo, Sweden and an island off Galveston - I have students literally all over the country, so that class is a great deal of fun,” she said. “I’m also teaching fiction writing, which is splendid. It’s compiled of people who have never written fiction before and those who are graduate students who have written a lot.”

Perkins will be taking a sabbatical during the spring semester to complete the third book in her poetry trilogy about NYX, the primal Greek goddess Night. Each of the three books focuses on a specific aspect of the goddess’ being. The first book, called NYX: Mother of Light, is about the “joys of being alive and celebrating the fact that we’re human, and it’s full of resolution,” and the second book, NYX: Daughter of Chaos, is full of poems of “things not resolved,” Perkins said.

The third book of the trilogy is called NYX: Sister of Erebus and speaks about the journey that Perkins has gone through recently with her mother who had Alzheimer's disease. Erebus is the mythological region of darkness where souls must journey from this world on their way to the underworld.

“I’ve been working on this book since 2001, and my mother passed away a year ago in September,” Perkins said. “I want to take and shape the poems I have into the stages of Alzheimer’s so people can know they’re not alone if they must also make this journey.”

As if that wasn’t enough, Perkins is also continuing to work on a project she laughingly calls her “life project”: a book on the early settlers of Woodford County, Illinois, which is about 90 percent complete, she noted.

Though Perkins is so busy that she is barely finding enough time to submit her poetry for publication and readings, she is still doing her best to make time for what she loves. She has been invited to be the featured poet in three different states, and she feels honored at the opportunities.

“It feels really nice that people are inviting me to be a featured poet and that people are giving me feedback about my poetry, saying ‘I like that, I understand it, and it’s what I’m going through right now’,” she said. “I’m doing all the things I like to do; it’s great."

To listen to Perkins read two of her recent poems, watch the video below:

Kirkendall acknowledged for support of autism fundraiser

Karen Kirkendall, interim director of the Capital Scholars Honors Program and associate professor of Liberal & Integrative Studies, was among those acknowledged for their support of the second annual "Take a Step for Autism Walk" held in September in Washington Park. The winter edition of the Autism Society of America Central Illinois Chapter newsletter thanked Kirkendall for "announcing the walk and her devoted support to autism spectrum disorders. She is a treasure."

Rosina Neginsky named UIS University Scholar for 2008

Rosina Neginsky (left), associate professor of Women's Studies, English and Liberal Studies/Individual Option at the University of Illinois at Springfield, has been named University Scholar for 2008-2009. She is one of 15 faculty members, and the only one from UIS, chosen for this award honoring and rewarding outstanding teachers and scholars at the three U of I campuses.

University Scholars receive $10,000 a year for three years to support research and other scholarly activities.

Materials nominating Neginsky described her has an "outstanding example of someone whose scholarship and teaching are excellent and intertwined." She is an international scholar who brings to UIS a "perspective that includes multiple languages and a rich cultural mix."

Neginsky has published two collections of poetry: Under the Light of the Moon and Juggler, which were both released in Russian and English. Her book Zinaida Vengerova: In Search of Beauty, is in its second edition and another book, Salome: The Image of a Woman Who Never Was, has been accepted for publication.

Neginsky is also the founder of the UIS International Film Festival, has organized three European film festivals, and has given guest lectures in Paris. She was recently awarded a strategic academic initiatives grant to organize a 2009 symposium on the Symbolist movement.

Neginsky teaches courses on ancient Greek and biblical motifs in European literature, European cinema, international women writers and the Symbolist Movement in Europe. She holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The University Scholars program was inaugurated in 1985 when the U of I Foundation celebrated its 50th anniversary. The program's purpose, then and now, is to strengthen the University in meeting today's challenges and tomorrow's promise. Faculty do not apply for this award; they are nominated by their peers. A committee of senior faculty makes the final selection.

Schroeder addresses conference at UM

Ray Schroeder, director of the Office of Technology-Enhanced Learning, gave a plenary address at the annual Teaching and Technology Conference held recently at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

See a pdf copy of The Messenger, the UMSL newsletter, for additional information.
TheMessenger.pdf

UIS Prairie offers sustainability and opportunities to university

By Courtney Westlake



The state of Illinois had 22 million acres of prairie up until the 1820s, but since European settlers moved into area, there are now less than 2,500 acres. Caring for the prairie areas that remain is now extremely important, such as the beautiful prairie located on the south area of the UIS campus.

“We have such small remnants of prairie still left,” said Dr. Tih-Fen Ting, assistant professor of Environmental Studies. “By losing this part of the native ecosystem, we also put out a lot of other species that are associated with prairie, whether it be birds, mammals or insects. We hope that we can increase biodiversity locally and also help species that still depend on prairie for survival and reproductive needs.”

Prairie is a French word meaning ‘meadow,’ Ting said. A prairie system is made up of lot of grasses and flower species and is very productive. Prairie grasses and forbs have deep root systems, and once a plant dies, its roots decompose and become part of the soil.

The prairie at UIS was established in 1991 by the student organization Students Allied for a Greener Earth (SAGE). Bob Raebig, who was a SAGE member and later became the environmental health and safety officer at UIS, played a tremendous role for the prairie restoration, Ting said, and when he passed away in 2004, Ting took responsibility of maintaining the prairie, along with help from Joan Buckles, UIS superintendent of grounds.

“We can use this as a living laboratory to teach students about the prairie and its ecosystem,” Ting said. “Even though it’s only three acres right now, it’s still a nice opportunity to have that living laboratory on campus for students to be able to learn more about a prairie ecosystem.”

Having a restored prairie on campus is beneficial not only to the campus community but to the environment and to sustainability in general.

“Sustainability is a broad issue in the sense that it involves not only environmental stewardship but social responsibilities and economic wellbeing,” Ting said. “There are many ecological benefits the prairie can provide. It increases biodiversity in a human-dominant landscape. And it does not preclude the opportunity for other species to be able to co-exist with us, which is important for sustainability.”

The prairie is also appealing for its aesthetic value and provides a natural setting for people to come, Ting said.

“It's such a beautiful place, and I think people will get inspiration for all kinds of work,” she said.

In the early days, a prairie was maintained by fires from lightning or grazing done by bison, Ting said. Now, UIS uses the method of fire-prescribed burns to maintain the health of the prairie ecosystem. The Friends of Sangamon Valley assists UIS in conducting species inventory and prescribed burns.

“Those are the ways to prevent trees, brushes and shrubs from taking over the prairie ecosystem. We try to mimic the natural force with controlled fires,” Ting said. “The fire will help release nutrients from vegetation back to the soil so it will enhance soil productivity and help other plants to grow. It also helps to control a lot of invasive species as well.”

The UIS prairie gives the campus community the opportunity to be immersed in a different kind of natural setting, Ting said.

“I encourage everyone to come here. It’s right on campus, on west side of the Strawbridge-Shepherd House,” she said. “There are beautiful species and grasses. You can come, meditate, take a nice walk, and it will probably help with your day.”

Eric Thibodeaux-Thompson receives ITA Award of Excellence

Eric Thibodeaux-Thompson, associate professor and director of theatre, has received the Award of Excellence in the College/University Division from the Illinois Theatre Association. The award was presented during ITA's 2008 Convention, held at Illinois State University in September.

Each year, the ITA recognizes both individuals and organizations for significant contributions in promoting quality theatre throughout the state. Recipients are nominated by the Illinois theatre community.

Thibodeaux-Thompson has served as a board member and co-chair of the ITA College/University Division and was co-chair of the organization's 2007 convention.

Meeks honored with alumni award

Loretta Meeks, professor of Teacher Education, is the recipient of the 2009 Alumni Achievers Award from the School of Education and Human Performance at Winston Salem State University, North Carolina. The award recognizes Meeks for professional achievements and contributions to the field of education and the community. It will be presented at the Winston Salem Founder's Day Convocation in late October.

Professor fosters education of Latino and immigrant issues

By Courtney Westlake

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Before Dr. Hinda Seif returned to grad school, she spent a number of years doing social justice work, and much of this work involved working with immigrant families. She was so interested in their stories, she became motivated to record those stories and learn more about “the context for how immigrants ended up coming to the United States,” she said.

That experience led Seif to pursue a doctorate from the University of California-Davis in anthropology with a focus on immigration issues. After receiving her Ph.D., she spent a year at the U.S.-Mexico border thinking through international migration issues with scholars from many other countries as a fellow at the University of California San Diego’s Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, and she also worked on immigrant students and college access at University of California at Berkeley’s Center for Latino Policy Research.

Now going into her second year teaching at UIS, Seif believes the university is an ideal fit.

“When I interviewed here, I was so impressed by the camaraderie. I loved the fact that we are a public university with small classes where I really get to know students that I’m working with,” Seif said. “A big draw was the location in the state capital because I’m interested in learning about and researching Latino and immigrant politics. Illinois is a state where Latinos and immigrants are having more and more impact on state politics, so it seemed perfect for me to be at UIS.”

This fall semester, Seif will be teaching courses in the sociology and anthropology curriculum and also the women’s studies curriculum. She teaches courses on cultural diversity in the U.S. as well as Women, Gender and Society, which is a core course for the Women’s Studies minor.

And a new course, which she first developed during the spring semester, fulfills the Comparative Societies requirement and is called “Women and Gender in Mexico and the U.S.”

“I think it is a unique course because this comparative societies requirement challenges us as professors to think about some of our favorite topics in this comparative fashion,” Seif said. “Usually when people teach about gender and women in this country, we focus on the United States or an entirely different country. Actually comparing the lives of women and gender roles in the two countries is a really interesting challenge.”

“I think it helps students think through not only what their lives are like as gendered individuals, but how they might have been different if they grew up in another country like Mexico,” she added.

The Latino population, which is the largest minority group in the United States, makes up about 14 percent of the population in Illinois and about 25 percent of the population in Chicago, Seif said. She is excited about diversity issues and is looking forward to continuing to help students think about different communities across the state, the country, and the world and broaden their horizons.

Seif is also joining with other campus faculty to welcome Latino students to our campus. Starting fall 2008, she is the faculty adviser for the campus student organization OLAS, or the Organization of Latin American Students.

“In fields that range from business to education to social work, employers are looking for students who are sensitive to diversity and can operate in a global economy,” she said. “I'm looking forward to learning with my students about diverse Latino communities in Illinois, like the one in Beardstown.”

Neginsky's work on Salome inspires Miller's editorial in technology magazine

Rosina Neginsky, UIS associate professor of Liberal Studies, Individual Option, and English, recently gave a sabbatical presentation about her new book Salome: The Image of a Woman Who Never Was (forthcoming, Edwin Mellon Press). The book examines myth-making and artistic depictions of Salome.

Colleague Keith Miller, professor of Computer Science, attended Neginsky's presentation and was inspired to write about it in "The engineer, the dancer, and the severed head," his first editorial as editor for the magazine IEEE Technology and Society.

The entire text of the editorial is available online through the Brookens Library homepage. Said Miller, "From the library homepage, click on the quick link 'A-Z list of databases,' then click on 'IEEE Xplore,' then click on 'Journals and Magazine' under the heading Browse, then click on 'T,' then click on 'Technology and Society Magazine,' then click on 'GO TO ISSUE,' and finally click on the PDF for the editorial.

"I know that's a pretty long list of clicks, but the more people do all that clicking, the more hits will be recorded by the IEEE, and the more money they will give to the society that sponsors the magazine." He added that UIS pays a fee for access to IEEE Xplore, "and this is one way all UIS students, faculty, and staff can take advantage of that resource.

"Of course, I would be tickled pink if lots of UIS library users wandered about on the Technology and Society website and read MANY of the articles there," he said.

Oldfield is invited panelist at national conference

Kenneth Oldfield, emeritus professor of Public Administration, was an invited panelist at the annual Public Administration Theory Network Conference, held in May in Richmond, Virginia. The panel's theme was "On the Marginalization of Social Class and Socioeconomic Status in Public Administration." Over the last few years, Oldfield has published several refereed papers on the topic of social class inequalities in higher education.

Professor spurs academic examination of Bob Dylan

By Courtney Westlake

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College English classes typically focus on works by Shakespeare, Chaucer, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and other well-known artists and writers. But Bob Dylan?

Dr. Bill Carpenter, assistant professor of English at UIS, created a summer English course focused on the works and lyrics of Bob Dylan, called “Bob Dylan’s America,” that was first offered in the summer 2007 and is being offered again this summer as part of the ECCE requirements.

The class came about because, Carpenter said, he had an idea about putting Bob Dylan in the center of a study about American communities and looking in depth at the way in which Dylan interacted with different communities. He wanted to give students insight to a cultural icon they may not have “immediate access” to.

"This is a class I always wanted to teach," he said. "I always thought it'd be really fascinating to get people talking about Bob Dylan the same way we talk about T.S. Eliot or Dante or Shakespeare. Plus I'm a big Dylan fan and really curious about the effects he's had on American culture and the way in which American culture perceives him."

Carpenter, who created the first-year writing curriculum when he first came to UIS a couple of years ago, said he truly enjoys this unique course and the students it brings into his class.

“The students come from all over and have different levels of experience,” he said. “Some have never listened to him, but some are big fans, so it's nice to bring them all together and have those different ranges of knowledge work together.”

The course’s main focus is to study the connection between Dylan and groups such as civil rights activists, the folk revival, Evangelical Christians and the Millennial Generation. There are a couple of goals for the course as well, Carpenter said.

“I want to have the students work together to create kind of a community-based knowledge about Bob Dylan and American culture,” he said. “They have to work at finding resources and creating interpretations and sharing them with each other so they can talk about what they see happening in the works and in the history and the context.”

“And,” he added, “I'm also really trying to get them to see, and then ultimately go out and show other people, that you can take artists and works that aren't necessarily thought of as ‘classic’ or ‘high art’ but you can look at them as if you are intellectuals. You can deal with that work in very intellectual, critical, academic ways. So I'm trying to reinvent the literary canon in addition to just teaching them about someone I like to listen to.”

And not only is Carpenter encouraging the critical analysis of Dylan and his works, he is doing it in unique ways, namely through social media tools.

“I blew my students away the other day because I used the SmartBoard in the classroom,” he laughed.

One of his most recent classroom activities involved the use of laptops and the World Wide Web. His students found works of poetry on the Web and created their own versions with certain words or phrases hyperlinked to connect to other resources or Web pages. The final products were then posted to Blackboard.

“It’s all a way of demonstrating that web of knowledge we already exist in,” Carpenter said. “It’s also to show that none of these authors exist in a historical vacuum. They’re all part of a larger system of interactions and connections. So hyperlinks and social media really help materialize those kinds of relationships for them.”

Knowledge has everything to do with connection – how facts and ideas link up with other facts and ideas, Carpenter said. Teaching about Dylan in this way allows students to connect Dylan to other events, people and cultures in a critical way.

“We’re now dealing with a group of students for whom the world has never not been connected and linked,” Carpenter said. “Using social media is a way for knowledge to be created and disseminated. The Internet gives us a very interesting means to talk about community.”

Nancy Perkins gives poetry reading

Nancy Genevieve Perkins, associate professor of English, read her poetry at Etcetera Cafe in Paducah, Kentucky, on June 6.

Perkins, who writes and reads her creative works under her first two names, nancy genevieve, has been teaching creative writing, fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction at UIS since 2000.

Kenneth Oldfield addresses national coalition

Kenneth Oldfield, emeritus professor of Public Administration, gave an invited presentation at the annual conference of the Coalition of State University Aid Administrators, held in April in Huntington Beach, California. Oldfield spoke about "Welcoming First-Generation Poor and Working-Class Students to College."

Mooney interviewed on WILL

UIS Professor of Political Science Chris Mooney was interviewed on the WILL radio program Focus 580 with David Inge during the week of April 21, 2008. Mooney's segment was titled "Government by the People: Referenda, Grass Roots Initiatives, and Recall Petitions."

Focus 580 features interviews with "newsmakers and experts on international affairs and daily life."

Listen to the interview

Perkins publishes new poems

Nancy Genevieve Perkins, associate professor of English, had two poems published in the inaugural Spring/Summer 2008 issue of Springfield's newest literary journal, Quiddity: International Literary Journal. The issue presents more than 70 "new works of poetry and fiction from emerging and established writers around the world."

These poems are a part of a new body of work by Perkins, who writes and reads creative works under her first two names, nancy genevieve. She has been teaching creative writing, fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction at UIS since 2000.

More about Quiddity

MIS professor elected president of professional organization

Rassule Hadidi, Hanson Professional Services Faculty Scholar and professor and chair of the Management Information Systems Department at the University of Illinois at Springfield, has been elected to a three-year term as president of the Midwest United States Association for Information Systems (MWAIS).

As a chapter of the Association for Information Systems, MWAIS serves AIS members across 12 Midwestern states. The organization's goal is "to promote the exchange of ideas, experiences, and knowledge among scholars and professionals engaged in the development, management, and use of information and communications systems and technology."

As president, Hadidi will head up MWAIS' seven-member executive committee. AIS currently has about 3,700 members worldwide; MWAIS has about 100 members.

The MIS Department, housed within UIS' College of Business and Management, offers the master of science degree, as well as an undergraduate minor and a number of graduate certificate programs. The graduate degree focuses on providing a balance between technical skills and knowledge of business functions and processes and was recently named a "Best Buy" by GetEducated.com.

Dr. Hadidi's homepage

More about the Department of Management and Information Systems

More about the College of Business and Management

More about the Hanson Professional Services Faculty Scholar

Two UIS degree programs were recently named Best Buys by GetEducated.com

New exhibit presents work by Liz Murphy Thomas

identity: conceptual/perceptual representations, an exhibit of photographs by Liz Murphy Thomas, will be on display at the Robert Morris Gallery in downtown Springfield from May 20 through July 11.

Thomas is assistant professor of Visual Arts at UIS, where her teaching focuses on digital media and graphic design.

identity includes work from several series of Thomas' photographs, all dealing with "perceptual and conceptual identities." She describes the focus of her work as looking at "how we create, categorize, and perceive identity."

An opening reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 22. The reception and admission to the gallery are free.

The Robert Morris Gallery is located at 607 East Adams; summer hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, contact Shelley LaMantia at 793-4245 or Liz Murphy Thomas at 206-7547.

Read more about the Visual Arts Department at UIS and about Liz Murphy Thomas.

Professor anticipates greater need for field in near future

By Courtney Westlake

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What most people usually don't want to talk about for five minutes, Dr. Carolyn Peck has been studying and teaching most of her adult life.

The topics of death and dying don't overwhelm or dishearten her so much as interest her.

"The study of death and dying and working in that arena is something that has come naturally to me," Peck said. "One of my work experiences in Oklahoma was in a hospice as the bereavement coordinator and volunteer coordinator. I've also had the good fortune of caring for family members at the end of their lives. Because of those experiences, it's something that became part of my life, and it's an interest I continue to have professionally."

Peck, who came to UIS in 2002, is a faculty member in the human services department, teaching in the concentration of gerontology. Previously, she worked in the field of gerontology for more than 20 years in public and private sectors, she said.

"I've had a real rich diversity of experiences in a variety of arenas," Peck said. "My first job was as the manager of low-income housing for the elderly. I really stumbled into the field of gerontology; I had no idea it was the beginning of a lifetime career for me."

Within the gerontology concentration, one of four different concentrations in human services, Peck teaches four aging-related classes: Perspectives on Aging, Psychology of Aging, Aging and Human Services and Sociology of Death, Dying and Bereavement.

"In my death and dying class, I see one of most dramtic transformations following enrollment in the class," she said. "Initially there is some anxiety, and usually by the end of the semester, many of them are empowered, and, I hope, benefit both personally and professionally as a result. I hope in all my classes students are changed."

Enrollment in the gerontology concentration at UIS has remained constant, Peck said, although she belives there will be a significant increase in the near future.

"I anticipate a fairly dramatic increase because of the number of older adults who are going to be needing services over next 10 to 15 years," she said. "We have not seen that yet, but we anticipate enrollment to increase substantially over the next five to 10 years in order to meet the demands of the baby boomers that are just starting to turn 60."

The Baby Boomers are the group of people born between 1946 and 1964. They are different from today's elderly in variety of ways, including individuals who are living longer, have a higher-income due to higher levels of education and individuals who have chosen to remain single all their lives, Peck said.

"There will be some challenges when we look at the group of people who have never married and have remained single all of their lives. When we look at the individuals in today's elderly and who is caring for them, it's their adult children," Peck said. "The question being asked is who will care for the future elderly who are single in their later year; if they don't have children and never married, that's going to be a critical question."

To help faculty, staff and students begin preparing for their aging family members, Peck and the UIS Counseling Center have been offering workshops on the subject.

"One of the realities of today, and our campus is no different, is a truly epidemic number of middle-age people caring for their elderly parents," Peck said. "We felt the need to have some specialized types of education classes as well as support groups for people on our campus who are caring for aging family members. They have been well attended, and we have every reason to believe will continue."

There is no doubt, Peck said, that there will be a significant influx of older adults over the next 20 years.

"I see lot of jobs opening in the field of gerontology and associated fields," she said. "The number of older adults will create demands for service at a variety of different levels, which of course means a demand for positions and individuals who have a special training in the field of gerontology."

Faculty & Staff month-long Campaign comes to close

By Courtney Westlake

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A month full of giving
Wasn’t it great?

And to end it just right,
Employees gathered to celebrate!

The annual month-long Faculty & Staff Campaign celebration, which kicked off on February 29, came to a close on Thursday, March 27 with an event in the Public Affairs Center Atrium.

Through the campaign, staff and faculty are able to give a gift to the university, choosing how their funds will impact UIS' quality academics, athletics or other important areas. Gifts made to UIS assist with scholarships, enhance research, improve programs and much more.

"This is our third year, and we are extremely positive about how things have gone this year," said Vicki Megginson, Associate Chancellor for Development and vice president of the University of Illinois Foundation. "We certainly have built a tradition. But as much as it can be about numbers and traditions, it's really about people."

This fiscal year, 46.6 percent of academic professionals have given to the campaign, in addition to 37 percent of faculty and 28.8 percent of civil service employees, Megginson said.

Megginson thanked all of the people involved with this year's campaign. It is not too late to still give, as the fiscal year runs until the end of June, she said. All gifts count toward this year's goal and campaign.

This year, at this time, 37 percent of all employees have made a gift to UIS; last year's total was at 35.6 percent at the same time, Megginson said. In numbers, 270 employees have given to the university this year, while 255 had contributed to the campaign at this time last year.

"So we are very encouraged that we have edged up," Megginson said. "That's a wonderful increase, and we are so delighted."

Provost Harry Berman said he really enjoyed the Dr. Seuss theme of this year's campaign with a focus on the book "Oh the Places We'll Go," which brings to mind the various places around the world that UIS has gone or will be going, he said.

Berman said he was very impressed with the campaign as a whole and the commitment of UIS' employees to the school.

"Thirty-seven percent is a wonderful accomplishment, and we should be so proud," he said.

Professor changes focus to new program

By Courtney Westlake

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Most people would consider getting a Ph.D. something of a "stopping point" in regards to formal education. But not Dr. Hilary Frost-Kumpf.

While Frost-Kumpf was on the faculty in the department of public administration at UIS teaching arts management three years ago, she began to have a change of heart about her educational focus, which eventually led to a change in her education.

"I realized that I wanted to get back to my roots in a way – I have a doctorate in cultural geography, and I wanted to get back to that – and I wanted to internationalize myself," she said. "I wanted to take what I was doing, particularly in arts management in the U.S. and ask, 'how I can look at things more broadly? How can I ask questions in other places outside of the United States?'"

So Frost-Kumpf applied for the master's program in international studies at the University of Iowa and took a leave from UIS to complete her studies. Since her degree was much like the Individual Option program at UIS, Frost-Kumpf was able to choose what she wanted to focus her education on.

"I love being a student, love the opportunity to be a student fulltime and to study things I didn't have time to do when working fulltime as teacher," she said. "I decided I wanted to focus on the arts in Africa: history, film, theatre and literature of Africa."

During her pursuit of a new master's degree, Frost-Kumpf jumped at the opportunity to travel in Africa and study one of its many languages, Swahili. Her Swahili teacher in the United States put Frost-Kumpf in contact with her cousin in Tanzania, a former director of the ministry of culture who provided important resources for Frost-Kumpf’s research over the course of her 9-week stay in the country.

"I had always had a long-term interest in Africa; I became fascinated with the diversity and complexity of it," Frost-Kumpf said. "There are hundreds of cultures and languages - 128 languages in Tanzania alone. It was a wonderful experience studying in Tanzania."

And not only did her new educational focus stimulate some of her lifelong passions, but Frost-Kumpf returned to UIS after the completion of her master's degree to use her new education to benefit the university.

"When I told Dean Pinky Wassenberg that I wanted to get another master's degree, she said 'A redesigned Hilary! You can come back and teach in our new major in international studies'," Frost-Kumpf said. "She told me that UIS was looking into expanding our current international studies minor to a global studies major. My new focus will allow me to work in that new degree."

Currently the proposal for a new global studies major is working its way through campus governance to see if the degree can be established. Dr. Stephen Schwark is heading the proposal for the major, which will allow students to "explore global issues and look at the world from a more global perspective," Frost-Kumpf said.

"The idea of a global studies degree fits very well with the direction the university is going in terms of our general education curriculum requiring all students who graduate to have a global awareness," she said. "This expands that further so students who find those topics interesting will be able to major in the subject."

Frost-Kumpf said she has high hopes for the global studies program and for students to discover the passion and thrill she has found in other cultures and languages.

"My hope is that students will come away from the program challenged to learn broadly about global issues and more specifically, about a particular topic that they're interested in," she said. "And as a geographer, my hope is for them to leave the program with a much better understanding of world geography and a more nuanced idea of different cultures throughout the world."

Faculty & Staff Campaign continues

By Courtney Westlake

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A special Faculty & Staff Campaign event was held on Tuesday, March 18 from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. in the Lincoln Residence Hall Great Room.

Snacks and drinks were offered to all attendees, and there were also prizes and give-aways. In addition, those who attended had the opportunity to take a tour of LRH.

"This is midway through our campaign," said Vicki Megginson, Associate Chancellor for Development and vice president of the University of Illinois Foundation. "During this one month, we encourage everyone to tell each other why they should be supported. We encourage one month where everyone can 'market up' their departments, their needs and their goals with each other. Then at the end of the month, we'll celebrate where we are."

The Faculty & Staff Campaign kicked off this year on Friday, February 29 with a Dr. Seuss-themed lunch event. Through the campaign, staff and faculty are able to give a gift to the university, choosing exactly how the money will impact UIS' quality academics, athletics or other important programs.

The campaign is a vital part of UIS because it helps the employees get to know each other and learn about the various departments and programs at UIS, Megginson said. It also helps to encourage the faculty and staff to be ambassadors for UIS in the external community, she said.

"Our faculty and staff are our greatest assets and our greatest ambassadors," she said. "Many of our supporters come from the community, from our alumni and from local businesses. And as people become partners with us inside our house, they also become partners with us when they travel outside our walls to neighbors, friends and places they travel to in their own work and personal life."

"And the support helps us do things," she added.

Last year, 270 employees, or 41.99 percent, made a gift to UIS to assist with scholarships, enhance research, improve programs and much more. This year's goal is that 42.5 percent of staff and faculty will give a gift.

"It's a happy time for us," Megginson said. "To me, it's just like investing in your home, your family, your community. This is our community, and it makes me feel good when I and others invest back in it so it's better for all of us."

Click here to read more about the Faculty & Staff Campaign, and go here to watch the Campaign video on YouTube.

Online course receives Humane Society award

By Courtney Westlake

WATCH THE COURSE INTRODUCTION>

Throughout history, human beings have defined our humanity primarily in reference to animals. After all, Psalm 23 in the Bible begins “The Lord is my shepherd…,” making it necessary to understand the relationship between shepherds and sheep to understand the passage.

“Without animals we could not be ‘human’,” said Dr. Boria Sax. “They have given us a repository of vivid metaphors, images, relationships, aspirations and ideals that pervade human culture. But to preserve its vitality, culture must retain contact with that source.”

Sax, an adjunct faculty member in the philosophy department at UIS, had written many books on human-animal relations before he was asked by Dr. Peter Boltuc to design an online course for UIS focused on philosophy and animals in 2006. In 2007, he revised the course to a broader focus and renamed it “Animals and Human Civilization.”

In recognition of academic excellence of the course Sax created focusing on the relationship between people and animals, the course won a Distinguished New Course Award in the national Animals and Society awards program of the Humane Society of the United States in December. Selections are made based on depth and rigor within the topic, impact on the study of animals and society, and originality of approach.

“I was extremely pleased; no external vindication can ever substitute for a personal faith in what one does, but, in any case, I am deeply honored to receive the award,” Sax said. “Human-animal relationships are getting a lot more attention recently in almost all fields from social work to computers and philosophy.”

Sax said he believes it is extremely important to study the relationship between humans and animals in order to get a better sense of who we are as humans. His course examines social, religious and philosophical perspectives on animals from pre-Biblical times to the present, especially the ways in which animals have provided essential metaphors for social divisions along lines of tribe, gender, class, race and other categories, he said.

For example, as Sax points out, warriors have always identified with predators such as the lion, but in Christianity, God is symbolized by the sacrificial lamb. Also, wealth in the Bible is measured by herds of animals, not money.

“Human relationships with animals are characterized by an extraordinary combination of passion and intellectual complexity,” Sax said. “That makes these relations an ideal subject for reflection by students who are developing their analytic and writing skills.”

For receiving the honor, a monetary award will go to UIS. Sax said he hopes UIS will bring in speakers, such as Native American storyteller Joseph Bruchac, who might provide interesting perspectives on human-animal relations.

“Over a decade ago, I started an organization called NILAS (Nature in Legend and Story). I would be especially pleased if the speakers and the prize money might be used to establish a presence for NILAS on the campus of the State University of Illinois at Springfield,” he said.

The Places We'll Go!

By Courtney Westlake

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On Friday, February 29, UIS took a leap into the 2008 Faculty & Staff Campaign, kicking off a month-long affair with a celebration in the Sangamon Auditorium lobby, complete with food, speeches and activities.

The campaign is an annual event celebrated throughout the month with special events and prizes before culminating in a final celebration. Through the campaign, staff and faculty are able to give a gift to the university, choosing exactly how the money will impact UIS' quality academics or other important programs. Last year, 270 employees made a gift to UIS to assist with scholarships, enhance research, improve programs and much more.

The theme on Friday was Dr. Seuss, and the lobby sported Dr. Seuss decorations for the event.

Chancellor Richard Ringeisen and Vicki Megginson, Associate Chancellor for Development and vice president of the University of Illinois Foundation, spoke to the faculty and staff before the event, taking full advantage of the Dr. Suess theme.

"I know what you know, that you are the person who will decide where we go," Megginson rhymed as she thanked the gathered crowd for their attendance and support. "So talk to your colleagues and visit their tables, and you'll see what you give to really enables!"

During the event, employees were able to speak with representatives from different departments and programs to learn about what they might like to support with their gifts.
Last year, 41.99 percent of faculty and staff at UIS made a gift, and this year's goal is 42.5 percent.

"How is it that we do what do, do and do? We do it through gifts, from such gifters as you!" Ringeisen rhymed. "So let me say this, let me say it real loud: to you I say thanks, and of you we are proud!"

Professor notes importance of women in history

By Courtney Westlake

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Though there weren't many women in the field, Deborah McGregor decided that she would get her Ph.D. in history when she was 12 years old.

She managed to finish everything but her dissertation when she realized she needed a change, so she got married and started a family. The move, though delaying her degree, ended up benefiting her, however, because when she returned to school to obtain her Ph.D., a focus on women's history began to surface from the overall field of history.

"At that time, women's history started to emerge, so I had that option for my emphasis. So I was actually fortunate," McGregor said. "It was not until the 1970s that people became aware of women's rights as an issue."

McGregor, who has been teaching at UIS since 1986, developed a strong interest in several topics within women's history, including health and healing, the history of medicine and the history of childbirth.

"In a very immediate sense, I have an interest in childbirth because it was part of what happened in my life," she said. "It was really interesting to think about the history of childbirth, and I had never really read about it. Childbirth was not really a topic in women's history for a while. But it was a connection for me between real life and scholarship; I'm glad I made that choice."

McGregor has written several publications about the history of childbirth in the 19th century, as well as the history of gynecology and obstetrics. She is also the author of the book, "From Midwives to Medicine."

McGregor, whose husband Robert McGregor is also professor in the history department at UIS, teaches a broad range of classes since she came to UIS with joint appointment in general history and women's history. Topics she has taught include 19th century history, history of the family, U.S. women's history, and minority women, as well as several general education classes and seminars for graduate students in history.

And though she has studied and researched women's history in depth, McGregor acknowledges that she is always learning more. While she was teaching the course "Who Am I?" for a class of Capital Scholars, she realized how closely related identity and history are, she said.

"History is about identity; I believe that more and more. We come out of our past -our family past but also social past, political past and economic past," she said. "Without women being in history, we'd have a hard time understanding who they were."

McGregor said throughout the years, she has noticed an increasing interest from students in women's history and related topics, especially this academic year, and she hopes it will continue.

"This semester, I feel so much interest, which is exciting. The feeling I get from my classes is very positive," she said.

Science continues to fascinate professor

By Courtney Westlake

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Dr. John Martin jokes that, like most children, he became fascinated with outer space when he was four years old, except that he has been "stuck" in that stage ever since.

"I've always been interested in astronomy; it's my first love," he said. "I had really educated parents who told me that 'you need to do the math, you need to do the science.' A lot more people start out in science than make it to the end. You've really got to love it."

Martin, who has a Ph.D. in astrophysics, has been teaching at UIS since fall of 2006. He said picking the niche of astrophysics - "that a lot of people don't find as interesting as I do" - worked to his advantage when UIS was looking to hire an astrophysicist.

Martin's primary research interest within the field of astrophysics is studying what stars are made of. He admits that stellar astronomy isn't as popular as other topics in the field, but there are still many problems left unsolved in astrophysics because they're difficult.

"I was interested in more challenging problems, and this field presented me with those challenging problems," he said. "I'm basically a chemist that works with stars."

However, it wasn't the research that brought him to UIS, Martin said. It was the teaching, which he found he loves.

Martin is currently teaching two introductory physics classes, and he is essentially the only physics program faculty. He also teaches an astronomy course every semester; this semester, the course is called "Survey of the Universe", which is open not only to UIS students, but community members as well.

"A great thing about UIS is that it has this public affairs and public education mission," Martin said. "When Professor Emeritus Charles Schweighauser started the class, he contacted conference services and said he would be teaching the class and if they wanted to sign people up for non-credit, that's fine. We've just continued that; I think it's a great idea. Some of these non-traditional students bring experience into the classroom that a lot of our traditional students really seem to benefit from."

Martin said he sees the basic level astronomy class as a good course to reach numerous students "who might not otherwise have good thoughts about science". The class is geared toward students who might not have a science background but are interested in learning some of the basics.

"I really think it's important that we have a citizenry in this country that is educated about science," Martin said.

Students in Martin's physics classes are usually part of a pre-professional curriculum, such as pre-med or pre-dental, he said.

"For those students, I want to get through the course with the problem-solving mindset of physics," he said. "Med schools want students coming in to have exposure to that. What I want most for them is to do great on the physics part of the MCAT."

To further these students' studies in physics and sciences in general, Martin said he hopes that the astronomy and physics departments will expand.

"When I look at peer institutions, all of them have at least a physics minor and many have a physics major," he said. "Down the road, I see maybe an expansion in astronomy-physics, so we need to add some faculty and hopefully adding, down the road, a physics minor. It would be nice to be able to offer that instead of just a concentration through liberal studies."

Professor completes challenging book project

By Courtney Westlake

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Though Dr. Kent Redfield is a seasoned author, he said he found his latest publishing project much more challenging that it may appear to be to others.

"It's really an enjoyable project, but it is a lot of work," said Redfield, a professor of political science at UIS. "It's always a huge organizational task to get everybody's materials in, to revise them, to try to get a common structure and also for people to tell the story in their own states. And then to write the chapter I wrote in it is a different task; that is an effort."

The book, called "Democratic Renewal: A Call to Action from America's Heartland," was just released this month and contains profiles on the issues involving democratic institutions in the five Midwest states of Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota that are involved in the Joyce Foundation, which has a number of grantees in various states that work on democratic reform projects, Redfield said.

Redfield's essay in the book includes a discussion on what threats are present to American democracy in terms of lack of participation, lack of engagement, political corruption, election concerns and more. These are some things that cumulatively have an negative impact on public views of the political system, he said.

"It was an interesting project," he said. "It's an opportunity to take the research I do and then apply it, and work with groups that are trying to institute what I think are very positive changes."

Redfield's background in political science involves serving as the interim director for the Institute for Legislative Studies, which is part of the Center for State Policy and Leadership at UIS. He has been with UIS since 1979, teaching classes on Illinois politics, legislative politics, political campaigns, lobbying and more.

Redfield has also been involved in extensive research on the financing of political campaigns in Illinois and political ethics, and many of his findings have been presented in numerous research reports, a series of articles in Illinois Issues, a book on financing legislative elections in Illinois called "Cash Clout" and a book on the role of money in Illinois politics entitled "Money Counts."

Redfield said he has always been a political scientist involved with teaching and basic and applied research but has become increasingly more active in advocacy and reform activities in recent years.

"I've been really fortunate in terms of having the position here at UIS where I can do teaching, which I really enjoy, I can do grant-funded research, and I can find ways to apply that and make a difference with what's going on in the world," he said.

Couple takes the theatre program by storm

By Courtney Westlake

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Having offices down the hall from each other is no doubt the closest Missy and Eric Thibodeaux-Thompson have ever worked.

As aspiring performers and then teachers, the couple struggled to remain even in the same city for years before coming to UIS to rebuild the university's theatre program from the ground up. Now, working alongside each other, they are excited about the opportunities at UIS.

Eric and Missy have both been engaged in theatrics since a young age. The couple met while attending the University of Nebraska and then married and had a daughter, Emma.

Several years ago, UIS decided to revamp its theatre program, and Eric took on the job single-handedly. Then, as it started to grow and gain interest in the community, the university hired Missy on, through her own credentials, as a second theatre faculty member.

"I always knew I really liked teaching and always knew I really liked acting and performing, and I feel like the luckiest person in the world that I get to do both," Missy said.

There are several theatre classes available at UIS currently within the Communication department. This spring, Topics in Dramatic Literature will be offered for the first time, with the topic this semester being Women Playwrights. Eventually, the Thibodeaux-Thompsons hope that the theatre program can offer a minor, and further down the road, students will be able to major in theatre.

The couple also directs performances at Studio Theatre. Recent plays include Picnic, Proof, Oedipus the King and Anton in Show Business. And on February 10 and 11, auditions are being held for Tennessee Williams' Period of Adjustment, with callbacks on February 12. Eric is directing the April production, and auditions are open to everyone.

"I love the mix of non-traditional students right alongside the traditional students; it's a nice melting pot," Eric said. "I think our audiences appreciate not having just 19 year-olds playing all the parts, and I think our 19-year-olds appreciate that too, because they can learn a lot working with very experienced people."

The Thibodeax-Thompsons said they have been more than impressed with the outreach from the theatre base in the community and the willingness of community members, UIS staff and faculty to step in, take roles and help out when they can and want to. The focus in the theatre program, though, will remain on the students.

"Through it all we really want students to remain the centerpiece of what we do," Eric said. "And I think we've been able to get more students recently because they're showing up at auditions and in the classrooms. The growth here hasn't skyrocketed, but it has been stair-casing in the right direction."

UIS also hopes to encourage students to pursue other interests in theatre, not only acting and performing but lighting, scenic design, costume design and much more. The backstage work is just as important as on-stage work, if not more, Eric said, and Missy completely agreed.

"One of the things I love so much about theatre, with no disrespect to other art forms, is that this is the only true collaborative art form," Missy said. "I can't do it by myself; I have to have other people that specialize and excel in their expertise. We see the actors and they get all the notoriety and attention, but it really is a very egalitarian process."

Professor shares philosophical concepts within political science

By Courtney Westlake

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Dr. Richard Gilman-Opalsky was originally interested in philosophy as a career field and obtained both his bachelor's and master's degrees in philosophy.

But it was as he was working to get his Ph.D. that he realized he "wanted to ask questions about politics that were being asked more in political science than in philosophy," he said.

"I wanted to look at actual social movements, look at examples of political action of various kinds, and, within philosophy, that's less common to do," Gilman-Opalsky said. "So I changed my discipline to political science, so I could do the research I wanted to do for my dissertation."

Gilman-Opalsky obtained his Ph.D. in political science from The New School for Social Research and came to UIS in fall 2006. He has found that the priorities of the university and political science program are directly in line with his personal priorities, which include a number one focus on educating students and teaching the topics he is passionate about.

Gilman-Opalsky teaches classes that focus on topics like globalization and the future of democracy, introduction to political philosophy, ideas and ideologies, and democratization and the public sphere. The public sphere is one of Gilman-Opalsky's most central interests, and the course he teaches is built from the research he did while writing a book that is coming out next month called "Unbounded Publics: Transgressive Public Spheres, Zapatismo, and Political Theory," he said.

"Democratization and the Public Sphere is a course that says democracy is not just elections and voting," he said. "It has to do with culture. There are a lot of problems with elections; voting and elections are just one small part of politics. So that course is a semester-long investigation of a more robust notion of democracy."

Gilman-Opalsky said he finds UIS a "remarkable and rare fit" for his specific interests in political philosophy. He defines political philosophy as, very generally, asking political questions to which there aren't clear answers. The field doesn't focus on explaining or analyzing how things are, but "deciding how things should be," he said.

"Within political philosophy, we are concerned with some of the big moral and ethical questions of how things aren't but could be and should be," Gilman-Opalsky said. "What would be the best government? What would be the best society? Why don't we have it? Could we?"

"When you can say this is how things ought to be and then this is how things are, you can observe the distance between the two, and then get to the bottom of what obstacles are in the way of moving from point A to point B," he continued.

Because UIS is located in the state's capital, Gilman-Opalsky said he finds that many students are attracted to what he calls "practical politics" - working for the state government, working for a particular political party, lobbying and the like. So while his students might originally be unsure about looking at the philosophical side of politics, he said he has seen very positive reactions as they study the concepts.

"I think there tends to be a polarizing reaction," Gilman-Opalsky said. "But because we discuss exciting questions, provocative questions and controversial questions, I think students respond very, very well to courses in political philosophy."

Staff members represent UIS in cavalry band

By Courtney Westlake

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Although dressing in Civil War period garb while performing songs from that time is exciting, two UIS campus community members have found that the clothing gets a little hot during the summertime.

"It isn't real good in the summer because it's wool," laughed Beverly Bunch, who is an associate professor in public administration. "But in the winter, it feels much better."

Despite the occasional heat, Bunch and Rose Schweikhart, who works as the dean's assistant in the College of Public Affairs and Administration, are both enjoying the opportunities they have to perform with the 10th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry Band, part of the Volunteer Regiment.

The band has been active since August 2006, which is when Schweikhart first began playing with the group. Bunch has been involved with the band since March 2007. She said she enjoyed hearing Schweikhart play around campus and town, and Schweikhart asked her to join, which she gladly accepted. Additionally, Todd Cranson, who is assistant director of co-curricular music at UIS, conducts the band.

Although the band members don't ride horses while playing like the Civil War bands did, "almost all of the music selections played are arrangements from bands that existed in the 1860s," Schweikhart said, except for one piece which is a more modern arrangement.

"That's what makes it a lot of fun, that we get to play period instruments and music from that era," Bunch said. "They're hard to play in tune, and that makes it challenging, but it's nice to be playing music from that era on instruments from that era."

Schweikhart plays a baritone, which has a tenor sound like trombone, she said. Normally, Bunch plays the French horn but as the horn wasn't around during that time, she has taken up the E Flat Alto.

The Volunteer Band and Regiment are based on the actual Cavalry that was out of Springfield, Bunch said, and it is fun to hear old stories about the band and its members.

At some point during the war, Schweikhart said, bands were cut because they were a large expense on the Army, so in many regiments - including Springfield's - officers themselves paid band members more salary to keep them in action, which was an extra $1 per month.

Bunch and Schweikhart said they are thrilled with the opportunity to share the music, and the history, of the Civil War time period with the community.

"I love that we get to play period music on a period instrument. And especially around here, people are so appreciate of the history, especially from the Civil War era," Schweikhart said.

The Cavalry Band performs at various locations around town, including the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, UIS and more. Schweikhart and Bunch are particularly looking forward to their next gig: taking part in the Cavalry Band's performance at the 1860s Period Ball held in honor of Lincoln’s 200th birthday at the Executive Mansion on February 9.

"We hope people come to our concerts; we have a lot of fun, and we love having an audience," Bunch said. "Everybody there loves what they are doing; we like brass, and we love the Civil War context."

Mims has seen tremendous growth in computer science

By Courtney Westlake

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Dr. Ted Mims first started out his career in computer science working with paper tape, and then punched cards. The next years brought the era of terminals before desktop computers and laptops finally began serving the needs and wants of the general public and causing great impact in the field of computer science.

Mims came to UIS in 1990 and now serves as not only a professor of computer science, but as the chair of the computer science department. Mims' college studies originally focused on math, but after teaching math at the high school level, he eventually made the switch to the field of computer science.

After obtaining a master's and Ph.D. in computer science and teaching at Louisiana State and Nicholls State universities, Mims moved to Springfield to be part of the computer science department here at UIS, in which student enrollment has skyrocketed.

"In 1990, we had approximately 45 graduates and 75 undergraduates," Mims said. "In the spring semester of 2007, we had 350 graduate students and 200 undergraduates. So we've had more than 500 percent growth since 1990."

Mims said he enjoys working with both the faculty and the students within the program.

"I really like the faculty; they're energetic and enthusiastic about teaching," he said. "We have excellent students. When I came here, the majority of our students were adult students in their 30's with fulltime jobs. Now we also have evolved into admitting lower division students who are younger, less than 30 years old."

Three years ago, the computer science online program began bringing in more non-traditional working students who hail from all over the country. Nationwide enrollment in computer science has dropped anywhere from 30 to 60 percent, but in adding an online program, enrollment has increased 50 percent at UIS, Mims said.

"The online program brought students," he said. "Those are some of the brighter students we have; they are working for companies in the aerospace industry and major computer corporations."

As for the future of the field of computer science, Mims anticipates that security will be an area of interest and that online classes will continue to flourish.

"It seems younger students want to take more online classes than classes on campus," he said. "And I think that the programming will remain but language will change. We teach Java now, but it will be some other language in a few years from now."

Several students in UIS' computer science program have been recognized for national awards, and partnerships that have been recently developed are also an asset to the program. In 2007, for example, a partnership was developed with State Farm Insurance to make UIS the 18th university from which State Farm recruits nationally.

"This opportunity allows our students to do internships at State Farm, and several students of ours have been hired for fulltime positions with them," he said. "So that's been a great partnership, and we look to expand those partnerships with other companies."

Wheeler Sees Dedication from Students in PAR Program

By Courtney Westlake

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Charles Wheeler has his lack of baseball skills to thank for his journalism career.

"When I tried out for the baseball team in high school, they had a rule that no freshmen were cut...they made an exception in my case," he laughed. "But the administration knew I was a very avid sports fan, and the Joliet Herald News was looking for someone to cover Joliet Catholic High School sports. I was a sophomore in high school when I had my first byline in the Herald News."

Wheeler eventually moved from sports reporting into political reporting - "In a sense, covering politics is like covering a sports event, except the stakes are so much higher," he noted - and spent 24 years at the Chicago Sun-Times before taking a position as the director of the Public Affairs Reporting program at UIS in 1993.

"I was in the Sun-Times bureau at the time when the Public Affairs Reporting program started, and we had an intern the very first class and all the way through," Wheeler said. "I thought very highly of the program and enjoyed working with the interns and thought this was a way to work with all of them."

The highly-regarded Public Affairs Reporting (PAR) program at UIS is a one-year master's degree program in which students spend one semester in classes and then work for six months as a full-time reporter for a news organization in the State Capitol, under the direct supervision and guidance of the outlet's bureau chief. The program emphasizes the importance of informing readers, listeners and viewers about ongoing events and activities that impact on their daily lives, Wheeler said.

"I would say the one thing that sets us apart from any other program I know of is our internship," he said. "Our program offers these students the opportunity to show what they can do in a real-life setting under the deadline pressures and the complexity of state government, and as a result, they are able to walk away with proof they can handle any beat someone would give them."

Graduates and students within the PAR program have certainly showcased this each year by receiving numerous awards in an annual competition sponsored by Capitolbeat, the national organization of journalists covering state and local governments. Wheeler himself received top honors in 2007, for the fourth straight year, for magazine commentary, recognizing his contributions as a columnist for Illinois Issues magazine.

Along with continued success, PAR students and professors, as well as other media professionals, also face challenges and changes today regarding a huge push for multimedia reporting, Wheeler said.

"When I started as a reporter using typewriters, you didn't have to worry about shooting a picture or recording a tape," he said. "Nowadays reporters at some places are expected to go out with video cameras and get film or audio clips, and all of that goes on the Web. I think that's the big challenge for our program, and for other journalism education: to get people to be thinking in a broader concept about what the different ways are to be telling the story."

Because of the amount of internships available with news organizations, the program isn't able to grow much regarding the number of students it can accept. But it has grown more competitive, Wheeler said, and all of the students are extremely committed both in the classroom and within the internship.

"My hope is that the program continues to flourish and attract the kind of people that we've been able to attract," Wheeler said. "I tell people I'm the most fortunate college instructor in the whole world because all of the students I work with in the program are highly motivated and very talented. I don't have to deal with folks just trying to get a Gentleman's C; they are very committed, and that's a real pleasure."

Professor Engages Students with Theatrical Teaching Style

By Courtney Westlake

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Dr. Richard Judd started out as a young man who wanted to sing classical music, but he soon realized that few people can have a career in opera, so he switched to musical comedy and became a professional actor and singer in the 1960s.

Eventually, though, Judd shifted to a new audience.

With a Ph.D. in Business focused on business strategy, Judd has been a writer, researcher and professor at UIS for the past 28 years, engaging his students with his clever personality and interactive teaching style in the College of Business and Management.

Over his tenure here, Judd has taught subjects ranging from entrepreneurship, business strategy, business and public policy, franchising and marketing. He also teaches a course called Business Perspectives, which is the first course in UIS' MBA program. The class discusses how to analyze a firm and examines key issues business leaders will face in the next ten years.

"We want you, when you move into your career, to move beyond your biases and come to: what is the philosophic point, as I manage and own and make a decision that will have an impact, where I can stand firm?" he said.

Judd has published three different books: one on business strategy, an award-winning book on small business in a regulated economy and the first and only textbook on franchising, which is now in its fourth edition.

He also serves as the director of the UIS Center for Entrepreneurship, which was launched in January 2005 as part of the Illinois Entrepreneurship Network along with twelve other centers in the state. Judd was also the director of the center when it began originally in 1983.

"(Business leaders and entrepreneurs) come in and talk; we see what the center can do for you, whether it be workshops, counseling and developing, guidance to another source," Judd said.

Judd often looks over finances of businesses confidentially and make recommendations about next step. Many who come to the center are also referred to the Small Business Development Center, located downtown. He is thrilled with the Center for Entrepreneurship, he said, and hopes to remain involved after retirement at the end of the school year.

"I want the center to become more intimately involved in the local business community, and all around central Illinois, not just in Springfield. And my personal goals include doing more fishing," he joked.

For students attending UIS, Judd encouraged students to immerse themselves in the opportunity they have been given.

"Why would you ever come to school? You come to school to learn arts and develop habits.
You come here to learn to think critically; you come here for self-examination," he said.
"You come to a good school for one thing: self-knowledge. So you know who you are when you leave much better than when you came."

Judd said he is more than pleased with the growth and continuing excellence of the College of Business and Management over the years.

"We've made dramatic changes in our programming here. The beauty is, after some long and hard work, we are now an accredited association, one of a couple hundred in the country that are accredited nationally and internationally for what we do as a business school," he said. "We've come a long way, and we've done a good job, frankly. The strides made here have been virtually incredible."

Working on Improving the Environment Keeps Professor Motivated

By Courtney Westlake

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A self-described "outdoor person," Dr. Tih-Fen Ting is still getting used to the cold winter weather of Illinois after having spent most of her life in Taiwan and also living in California. That hasn't stopped her, though, from gaining a fast appreciation for the plains and animal life of Central Illinois, particularly the UIS prairie, where she spends much of her time exploring nature.

Ting, who came to UIS in 2003 after receiving her Ph.D. in Natural Resources and Environment, says that no matter the climate or location, the environment is always of utmost importance to her.

"Environment has always been something I have cared about and been concerned with; it probably started with my appreciation of nature," she said.

After getting acquainted with UIS, Ting quickly became involved with Students Allied for a Greener Earth, or SAGE, as the faculty adviser in 2004. The only student environmental club on campus, SAGE seeks to find a balance between meeting human needs while still maintaining ecological integrity, Ting said.

"The reason to do that is so that we can actually have a sustainable future with what we are doing with the current generation and not undermining what the future generations can do," she said.

As part of its strategic plan, the UIS campus is striving to be a model in promoting environmental sustainability and is now taking action with plans for a green roof on the new residence hall, Founders Hall, and more.

"The green campus is a huge movement in the nation," Ting said. "What UIS is doing is what a lot of institutions are doing, and what we are making sure of is that we are keeping up and doing a lot of the right things."

There are many small things that the individual can do to make a huge change in environmental sustainability, Ting said. This includes being aware of water conservation, turning off the lights and computer when not in use and being diligent about recycling.

"It doesn't take much effort to recycle and make it a daily habit," she said. "Don't be a passive bystander; an individual can make a difference if everyone acts."

The future of the environment and nature relies on the actions of people today, Ting said, and there is no reason more can’t be done. Thanks to a grant from Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, UIS is now working to expand its recycling program. Ting also encourages people to buy more local food in order to support local farmers and producers and to promote organic farming, which will increase sustainability of local agriculture.

Ting said she hopes to eventually see all new buildings compliant with LEED standards (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), which includes being energy-efficient, being conservative in water usage, using recycled materials and having an interior with carpet and paint that have low emission of harmful fumes.

Students and others interested in environmental sustainability and keeping the campus green are encouraged to learn about SAGE, its mission and its future events, Ting said. (Check out more information on SAGE here).

"Humans are an integral part of the ecosystem,” Ting said. “What we are doing impacts the environment; I think it's very important we have to be conscious of what we are doing. Whether clean air to breathe or clean drinking water, those are services we get from having a healthy environment."

Burkhardt Named University Scholar for UIS

By Courtney Westlake

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As a renowned author of the biography 'William Maxwell: A Literary Life,' Barbara Burkhardt is no stranger to hard work and dedication.

"It was a very long process," Burkhardt said, with a laugh. "I did my master's thesis on (Maxwell's) novel 'So Long, See You Tomorrow' and then when I went to get my Ph.D., I did a dissertation on a more broader range of his works. It was 10 more years beyond my Ph.D. that I worked on the book."

Burkhardt, an associate professor of English at the University of Illinois at Springfield, was recognized for her contributions by being named University Scholar for 2007-2008. She is one of 13 faculty members, and the only one from UIS, chosen for this award honoring and rewarding outstanding teachers and scholars at the three U of I campuses. University Scholars receive $10,000 a year for three years to support research and other scholarly activities.

Burkhardt holds a Ph.D. in American literature from UIUC and a master's degree in English from UIS. She has been a member of the UIS faculty since 2001 and teaches graduate seminars on postmodern fiction, Mark Twain, and writers of The New Yorker, as well as courses on the American novel, Midwestern literature, and American women writers.

Burkhardt is thankful and humbled by being named the recipient of the University Scholar honor.

"It really was the biggest honor I've ever received," she said. "I feel very fortunate to be on faculty here, let alone be named as the University Scholar. I really want to use the funds that go with that to do more work like I've been doing. I'm going to be working now on a biography of the publisher Alfred Knopf, who was Maxwell's publisher, but also the publisher for Willa Cather, John Updike and more."

Burkhardt's biography on William Maxwell was the first major critical study of the Illinois writer's life and work, and drew high reviews from publications such as New York Newsday, The Washington Post, USA Today, Booklist, and Publishers Weekly.

Burkhardt said she credits many of her fellow professors and colleagues at UIS for her successes and is grateful to UIS for providing such wonderful opportunities for her.

"I think about the scholars here who have inspired me, some of whom received the scholar award in the past," she said. "When I spoke to the campus at the luncheon, I spoke about the joy of scholarship. We really are a teaching campus, and the joy of scholarship is really something I try to pass on to my students."

Professor Touts Computer Technology to Advance Education

By Courtney Westlake

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Dr. Kathleen Burns admits that her penmanship is so awful, her students used to complain good-naturedly they couldn't read her writing on the chalkboard.

That is why, she jokes, she was forced to become an expert on computer technology as a means of teaching and learning in the classroom.

Burns, a professor in the college of Education and Human Services, is new to UIS this fall. She obtained her bachelor's and master's degrees in education, forever knowing that being a teacher was her calling.

"I always wanted to be a teacher; that was my heart's desire ever since I can remember," she said. "I just didn’t realize I would end up being a professor of education."

But Burns had a great mentor while she was working on her master's degree, who encouraged her to pursue a Ph.D., from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and go on to teach at the college level.

The decision to join the UIS community, Burns said, was an easy one. She attended the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay and says that the underground tunnels at Wisconsin and at UIS are extremely similar, which she loves. While visiting from her previous position at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Burns was taken with UIS.

"The very first time I came on this campus, I said 'I am going to work here'," she said. "It was really easy for me to say that's where I want to be."

Burns is currently teaching her first class that is completely online, called Technology in Education, which she is thrilled about. She also teaches Social Studies Methods and Teaching, Learning and Assessment for elementary majors.

Online learning and computer technology have been special interests of Burns in her professional work since the beginning. She became intrigued at the concept while she was working as administrator in high school setting. When technology began to come around, the school needed someone to "take charge" as the coordinator between technology and education.

"I ended up being the mediator, the person on campus who could do little fixes to the computer and the network, and it just got more and more evolved, to the point where I was doing the technology end of things more than other things," she said.

Burns then landed a part-time stint assisting fellow teachers with using computers within their teaching curriculum and classroom education. She ended up writing her Ph.D. dissertation on the subject.

Burns said over the years, she has become so closely associated with technology in the classroom that she has seen firsthand the benefits that computer technology does play and could potentially affect in the classroom setting. She is excited about what is progressing.

"I can honestly say that I think there won't be classrooms at some point," she said. "Imagine how online learning and computer technology could benefit high school students who want to take a more advanced class, like a college course. Or challenge alternative students, most of whom are so smart, but just bored with the day-to-day in-class schedules."

"I’ve been there since it began to be implemented," she added, "and I think it just keeps getting better and better."

Emiquon Provides Endless Opportunities for UIS

By Courtney Westlake

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Strong gusts of wind swept over the lake and fields on a recent Saturday as Dr. Michael Lemke guided a group tour near Thompson Lake in western Illinois. Though the shallow waters are just starting to gain the appearance of a lake, the land’s new look is a vast improvement from the previous decades of farmland.

The 7,425 acres of land located near the towns of Lewiston and Havana (about 45 miles northwest from Springfield on the Illinois River), is known as Emiquon, which is owned by The Nature Conservancy. Emiquon is now in the beginning stages of a transformation from farmland to its natural state as part of one of the largest restorations in the country.

A century ago, much of the Illinois River’s floodplain was converted to agricultural lands. The changes that occurred to the land eliminated or changed the important ecological processes of seasonal flooding that sustained the productivity and diversity of the Illinois River ecosystem.

But the past few years have brought about plans to restore this area of land, Lemke said. Now, UIS is currently working on the construction of the Emiquon Field Station, which will provide the opportunity for UIS students and researchers, and the general public, to learn more about the restoration and the natural state of the land.

Lemke, an associate professor of biology at UIS, is now serving as the director of Emiquon and the field station, which is slated to be finished in the next couple of months. The field station will train students in field biology techniques, help students and the public to learn more about the natural processes of the floodplain, freshwater ecology and the restoration, and teach them how to research effectively.

There are a variety of ways for students to become involved with Emiquon and the future field station, Lemke said. Current projects include students studying water quality, and there are other projects “on deck”, Lemke said, including matching up students and researchers to conduct studies and take on various projects in the area. And volunteerism is always a great method of involvement.

“My vision for field station is that it will be a very busy place. Students who would like to go out and get their hands dirty and help take out species that are invasive could volunteer in that way – some different plants and so forth,” he said. “Besides volunteers, classes are another way to get involved.”

Hybrid courses and online classes will give students the ability to learn about topics online and conduct field studies, Lemke said.

“And we’ll be having more and more fieldtrips once the field station is done, as well as workshops,” he added. “This past week we had about 40 students go out and explore biodiversity out there.”

Eventually, the Nature Conservancy has plans to open up the Illinois River so that the floodplain lake can connect, which will add a whole new level of complexity and ecological function to study, Lemke said. UIS is providing key services in recording what occurs during the restoration, which could offer ways to conduct more restorations up and down the Mississippi River, Lemke said.

“I think not to tell the story of the Emiquon Restoration would be a real disservice to society,” Lemke said. “There are real lessons here. To take on a restoration project of this size and learn from that, and then use that as a blueprint for other restorations has implications not only for habitat and wildlife, but also for water quality and just sound environmental management.”

“We’re here on the ground level and we’ll be able to follow it, which makes this a wonderful opportunity.”

Professor Heads to Yellowstone when Summer Comes

By Courtney Westlake

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On a typical day during the school year, Dr. Gilbert Crain can be found in his office, writing for the monthly newsletter, Governmental Accounting and Auditing Update, or in a classroom, teaching students about the finer aspects of accounting.

But when the summer moves in and school lets out, Crain packs up his books and heads to Yellowstone National Park, where he spends his days as a park ranger, primarily directing “bear jams” to ensure that Yellowstone’s bears can get safely across the roads, while leaving the park-goers and their vehicles unharmed as well.

It’s a double life that isn’t for the faint of heart.

Born in Urbana, Crain obtained his Ph.D. in accountancy from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In the spring of 1974, he left Illinois to teach at Montana State University in Bozeman, Mont.

It was several years ago, while still living in Bozeman, that Crain stumbled upon an opportunity that fulfilled a life-long dream of working outdoors.

“When I first started at Southern (Illinois University at Carbondale for undergraduate), I had my sights on being a forester, but I’m not a science guy,” he said. “That was really always where I wanted to be, was outdoors. About eight years ago, I had the opportunity to quit teaching some continuing education courses in the summer and started volunteering with Yellowstone.”

Crain spent several years working to keep unwanted plant life in the park to a minimum before he found his niche. One weekend, he ventured to Yellowstone for his typical activities, fishing and hiking, when he came across an enormous bear jam and a lone park ranger to handle it.

“I stopped and asked if she’d like some help; I’d done a couple bear jams before,” he said. “I started working jams with her that day, continued throughout the whole weekend and continued every weekend that fall.”

During a bear jam, when bears get too close to the road or cross the road, rangers work with three objectives: keeping the bear, and cubs, safe, keeping the people safe and lastly, keeping the vehicles safe, Crain said.

“Fortunately the bears along the road are really habituated and not aggressive, but they are still bears; they can run a hundred yards in 6 seconds,” he said. “I can tell you that in a situation like that (a complex bear jam), by the time it’s over, my adrenaline is well up there. I’ve decided that is a lot of why I do it - it’s an adrenaline rush.”

Now, Crain is taking a new step in his life: moving back to Illinois to become a new associate professor of accountancy at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

“Part of it was a little bit of ‘going home’,” Crain said, adding that he knew his predecessor, Dave Olsen, very well. “To me, the most important things are the camaraderie of my colleagues and the work ethics of the students. I got good evaluations from Dave on both, and so far, that seems to be accurate.”

But although he is back in his home state, many hours from Yellowstone, Crain does not anticipate giving up on his second life anytime soon. And he encourages anyone else interested in volunteering at Yellowstone to talk with him.

“It’s exciting. It’s almost a spiritual thing, even though that sounds kind of hokey, but if you’ve ever been out on a jam with me, you’d understand,” Crain said.

New Professor Uses Religion as Way to Explore World

By Courtney Westlake

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Dr. David Bertaina has found that more can be learned from the study of religion than most people think, from understanding wars and historical events to comprehending and appreciating differences between various cultures.

Bertaina, a new professor to the University of Illinois at Springfield this fall, is the history department's first specialist in comparative religion. He received his Ph.D. in Semitic Languages and Literatures from the Catholic University of America in 2007 and previously taught courses on Islam at California State University in Chico.

Bertaina said he has always held a fascination with history, especially with both of his parents being teachers, and first studied traditional Western history. As he then began to study Christianity’s presence in the Middle East, he also became interested in languages in that particular area of the world.

“For my doctorate, I studied many Middle Eastern languages: Arabic, Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic and Greek,” he said. “Plus some French and German had to be done for all of the reading. So I had an opportunity to delve into the literature and appreciate the historical development of the cultures.”

The history and literature of the medieval Middle East with an emphasis on Christian-Muslim dialogs is now Bertaina’s forte. Through extensive research on these subjects, Bertaina said he found his professional interest begin to expand into personal interests in other cultural aspects of the Middle East, primarily music.

“From the languages, I had an appreciation for the way of life and how they express themselves,” he said. “Expression relies on language, art and music, and I gained an appreciation for the many forms of music. It’s a way to look back into time.”

Bertaina is teaching two classes this semester. One of them is an online course on Islamic history. The other, called “Scriptures and World Religions,” teaches religion from the historical perspective and examines how religion developed in history, he said.

Bertaina said he hopes his students develop an understanding and appreciation for religion on a deeper level: each religion’s history, scriptures, culture and the way its followers view the world.

“I want my students to take away from my classes an understanding of a particular religious tradition – each religious tradition in its own right,” he said. “Every religion has a world view that is how they identify themselves and look at the world based upon their identity as a religious person, so it’s important to step into this religious world view.”

While UIS doesn’t have a specific religion department, Bertaina anticipates filling that void in the department of history.

“The University of Illinois at Springfield was interested in having someone in comparative religion because they saw a need for not only studying politics, but also the fact that religion is a reason and driving force behind politics today, behind issues of culture and behind issues of cultural wars,” Bertaina said. “(I want) to communicate to the students the complexity of each individual religious tradition, and also how they interact with one another and with other areas, such as the area of intellectual life or literature or gender issues.”