PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 28, No. 6, Sept. 18, 2008

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brief notes

Kick off the academic year

Provost, CTE host faculty event Sept. 24

The Office of the Provost and the Center for Teaching Excellence will host an event to kick off the academic year with its focus on bringing together faculty members from across campus. The event, “Building Opportunities for Teaching Excellence and Innovation,” will provide opportunities for individuals to:

• Meet people and build new relationships.

• Connect with campus units and learn about their services.

• Meet campus teaching award winners, teaching grants recipients and the campus’s Distinguished Teacher/Scholars.

• Learn about opportunities for collaboration, funding opportunities and innovative teaching projects and initiatives on the UI campus.

• Share and brainstorm creative ideas.

Ruth Watkins and Peter Mortensen will highlight campus goals to support academic excellence and provide a preview of this year’s events and initiatives. Ann Abbott and Rajeshwari Pandharipande, the 2008-09 Distinguished Teacher/Scholars, will be introduced. (See Page 4 for more information about their projects.) It is anticipated that this will become an annual event that provides a place to learn, to collaborate, and to celebrate the campus’s efforts for excellence in teaching and learning.

Bring friends for conversation and refreshments. This event will be from 3-5 p.m. Sept. 24 in the Heritage Room of the ACES Library, Information and Alumni Center. A short program will start about 3:45 p.m.

'Children of the World'

Spurlock Museum hosts auction

The Spurlock Museum Guild will host its annual auction and dinner Oct. 4 with the theme “Children of the World.” Proceeds of the event, to be held at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center, will support the educational programs of the Spurlock Museum of World Cultures. The guild, formed in 1989, sponsors literary and cultural activities that benefit more than 100,000 area schoolchildren and residents.

This year’s event will coincide with the Children’s Literature Festival, sponsored by the College of Education. Dean Mary Kalantzis, and her husband, Bill Cope, a professor of educational policy studies, will be the honorary hosts of the auction. Tony and Joannie Michalos will chair the event.

There will be a silent and live auction. Preview of items begins at 6 p.m., followed at 6:30 by a buffet dinner. Live auction bidding starts at 7:30 p.m.

Some featured items: framed autographed football jersey from Steve Young, former quarterback for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers; Illini football and basketball signed by the teams; hand-woven Oriental rugs; hand-crafted jewelry glass art and pottery from local artists; paintings; prints; and signed photographs; as well as antique items.

For information and tickets, contact Tony Michalos at michalos2@comcast.net or 351-6154. Tickets are $50 per person. Reservations are due by Sept. 25.

Carr Reading Series

David Jauss kicks off series Sept. 25

This fall’s Carr Reading Series begins with a reading by author David Jauss. All events begin at 4:30 p.m. in the Authors Corner of the Illini Union Bookstore. The lecture series is sponsored by the Creative Writing Program at Illinois. All series events are free and open to the public.

Jauss, who will be featured Sept. 25, is the author of two collections of short stories: “Black Maps” (University of Massachusetts Press, 1996), which won the Associated Writers and Writing Programs Award for Short Fiction, and “Crimes of Passion” (Story Press, 1984), as well his recent collection of essays on the craft of fiction, “Alone With All That Could Happen” (Writer’s Digest Books, 2008). He teaches at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and in the MFA in Writing Program at Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Other authors in the series:

• Elizabeth Spires (Oct. 16) is the author of six collections of poetry, including most recently “The Wave-Maker” (W.W. Norton, 2008), as well as six children’s books, including the forthcoming “William Edmondton and His Stone Carvings.” She lives in Baltimore and teaches at Goucher College.

• Sherwin Bitsui (Oct. 28) holds an AFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts Creative Writing Program. His first book, “Shapeshift,” was published by the University of Arizona Press in 2003. Originally from White Cone, Ariz., on the Navajo reservation, he now lives in Tucson, Ariz.

• The work of Hannah Tinti (Nov. 6) has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, including “The Best American Mystery Stories 2003.” Her first novel, “The Good Thief,” was published in 2007 by The Dial Press (U.S.) and Headline (United Kingdom and Australia). She is the editor of One Story magazine.

The reading series is made possible by a gift from Robert J. and Katherin Carr. For more information, go to http://creativewriting.english.uiuc.edu/carr/.

WILL-AM (580)

UI athletes discuss gender, race, disability

A new University High School student documentary looks at the UI’s record on disability, gender equity and race relations as seen through the eyes of athletes and coaches. The documentary will be broadcast on WILL-AM (580) at 6 p.m. Sept. 27.

Students in the class of 2011 researched and interviewed 16 people who overcame obstacles because of race, gender or disability, talking to them about their experiences, said Uni student Maria Gao, who along with Anne Machesky, produced the hourlong documentary, “Competing Against Discrimination: Achieving Equality in Athletics at the University of Illinois.”

“We talked to some amazing people who accomplished a lot at the UI,” Gao said. “Things are so different today than they were when some of these people were involved in sports at the UI.” By hearing from athletes and coaches who broke barriers, she and the other students learned to “dream big,” she said.

“I learned about Tim Nugent, who after World War II was the first person to make the college campus accessible to students with disabilities. He made everything accessible with curb cuts and ramps. Now when I see the curb cuts, I know it all started here at the UI,” she said.

Among those interviewed were Willie Williams, former track athlete, Olympian and assistant coach; J.C. Caroline, former football player and All-American; Karol Anne Kahrs, an administrator who worked for gender equity in athletics; Tony Clements, former football and basketball player; Ted Beach, former basketball player; Shawn Wax, former All Big Ten football player; Joshua George, co-captain of the UI wheelchair basketball team and a bronze medalist at the 2004 Paralympic Games; Anjali Forber-Pratt, wheelchair track athlete; Gia Lewis, holder of the UI record in the 20-pound weight throw and discus; and Jean Driscoll, elite wheelchair athlete and eight-time winner of the Boston Marathon.

WILL-AM’s Dave Dickey, who worked with the student producers, said he covered UI sports for WILL-AM for many years, and knew many of the athletes and coaches. But the students were not familiar with them. “It was fun to see the students have those ‘aha!’ moments,” Dickey said.

Illinois Natural History Survey

Symposium is Sept. 26

To celebrate the Illinois Natural History Survey’s 150th anniversary, two internationally known speakers will present talks. Peter Raven, the director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, will present the capstone address for a scientific symposium, “Conservation of Natural Resources in the 21st Century: The View From Illinois.” His topic is “Biodiversity for the Future: How to Save It.” The symposium is from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sept. 26.

On Sept. 27, herpetologist, author and Animal Planet television personality Mark O’Shea will speak at 10 a.m. on “Serpents, Sorcery and Snakebite in Papua, New Guinea, the Land of the Unexpected.” From Arkansas to Argentina, India to Indonesia and New Guinea to New Caledonia, O’Shea has come face to fang with a variety of reptiles. Following O’Shea’s talk, there will be a public natural history expo.

 Both events will be at the I-Hotel and Conference Center, 1900 S. First St., Champaign.

Campus Award for Excellence in Public Engagement

Nominations due Oct. 6

Nominations are invited for the 2008-2009 Campus Awards for Excellence in Public Engagement. These awards recognize those faculty members, academic professionals, staff employees, and students who contribute to the university’s commitment to public engagement in exemplary ways.

Each individual faculty member, academic professional or staff employee award winner will receive a $1,500 cash award and a $1,500 permanent salary increase. Up to three awards will be made, with at least one being in the academic professional category. In the student category, up to two $1,500 cash awards will be given to undergraduate, professional or graduate students to be used for professional development and to support other educational activities.

One team award will be made to recognize outstanding contributions uniquely accomplished through a team effort. The team award includes a $5,000 contribution to the sponsoring unit intended to support or enhance the project recognized by the award.

Nominations are due Oct. 6.  Guidelines and application materials for individual and team awards are online at the Office of Public Engagement Web site: http://engagement.illinois.edu/engagement_awards_grants.html.

More information is available from assistant vice chancellor Kris Campbell at 333-9525 or kjc@illinois.edu.

Graduate School of Library and Information Science

‘The Doctoral Thesis in the Digital Age’

Richard Andrews, a professor in English at the University of London, will be visiting the UI campus as a research fellow in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. He will give a public lecture at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 24, “The Doctoral Thesis in the Digital Age,” which will address trends in presenting dissertations and theses, including Web-based productions, films and exhibitions as well as traditional methods.

The discussion is open to the public and will be in Room 126 of the GSLIS building.

Andrews co-wrote and co-edited the “Handbook of E-Learning Research” (Sage, 2007) with Caroline Haythornthwaite, a UI professor of library and information science. His other areas of research are in argumentation and literacy development.

Know Your University

Fall series begins Sept. 23

The fall Know Your University lecture series begins Sept. 23 with Linda Katehi, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, speaking about “Positioning the Institution for Success.” On Sept. 30, Cary Nelson, Jubilee Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the UI, will discuss “Are Universities Losing Their Way?”

The series continues Tuesdays at noon through Nov. 18 at the University YMCA. For the complete schedule, go to www.universityymca.org.

Gender and Women’s Studies Program

Feminist series speakers announced

The Gender and Women’s Studies Program has announced the lecturers for its Feminist Scholarship Colloquia Series for the fall semester. The brown-bag lectures, which are free and open to the public, provide an opportunity for students, faculty members, and visiting scholars and artists to share their work with members of the UI, Champaign and Urbana communities. 

The Feminist Scholarship Series, which began in 1980 as “Women Scholars at Illinois,” is one of the longest running brown-bag series on the Urbana-Champaign campus.

The lectures are held at noon at the Gender and Women’s Studies House.

The fall semester lineup:

• Sept. 24, “Narrative Scales of Life and Death: ‘Race, Sexuality and Social Membership in the Early Twentieth Century,’ ” Emily Skidmore, predoctoral fellow, department of history.

• Oct. 22, “ ‘Orgasm Without Limits’: May 1968 and the French Sexual Revolution,” Tamara Chaplin, UI professor of history.

• Nov. 7, “Jackie Ormes: The First African American Cartoonist,” Nancy Goldstein, author of the book of the same title.

University YMCA

Friday Forum speakers announced

The fall Friday Forum lecture series, “Sick of Sound Bites? Real Issues for the Next Administration,” is under way and continues through Dec. 5. The weekly series is held from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Latzer Hall at the University YMCA. All lectures are free and open to the public. Lunch may be purchased through the Y Eatery. Meals may be reserved in advance through noon the day before the lecture by calling 337-1500.

Robert Rich, director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs, will speak Sept. 19 about “The American Health Care System in Crisis and the Prospects for Reform.” Then on Sept. 26, Sen. Mike Frerichs, Illinois 52nd District, will discuss “Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.”

For more information and the full schedule, go to www.universityymca.org.

The series is sponsored by The Center for Advanced Study, CU Jewish Federation, Episcopal Church and Foundation, First Mennonite Church, McKinley Presbyterian Church and Foundation, University YMCA, Wesley Church and Foundation and the YWCA.

College of Veterinary Medicine

‘One Medicine’ series begins Oct. 1

The public is invited to attend lectures addressing various aspects of the interrelationships among human, animal and ecosystem health. The series is part of a seminar titled “One Medicine, One Health: Emerging Disease and Public Policy,” offered through the Community Health and Preventive Medicine Section of the department of veterinary clinical medicine.

Judith Munson, executive director of the International Collaborative for Public Health Emergency Preparedness, will address public health law on Oct. 1.

On Oct. 15 Laura Landrum of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials in Chicago, will talk about disparities and determinants in community health policy.

The effect of climate change on human, animal and ecosystem health is the topic for Nov. 12, and will be presented by Donald Wuebbles, a professor of atmospheric sciences and director of the School of Earth, Society and Environment at the UI.

All lectures begin at 5:30 p.m. in Room 2271C of the Veterinary Medicine Basic Sciences Building.

For more information about the lectures, contact course coordinator John Herrmann at 265-6585 or jah1110@illinois.edu.

Broken Social Scene

Canadian Indie rock group to perform

Star Course, the UI student-run concert productions and promotions organization, has announced that Broken Social Scene will perform at Foellinger Auditorium Oct. 19.

The Toronto-based collective began with Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning in 1999, and only garnered international acclaim after members of Toronto bands, including Metric and Stars, added new layers to Broken Social Scene’s instrumentals while Amy Millan, Emily Haines and Leslie Feist brought their vocals.

Tickets can be purchased at Ticket Central in the Illini Union from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or by calling 333-5000. Service charges apply for phone orders. Tickets are $25 for students and $28 for the general public.

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