2006 - 2007

Nine Students Named to Top 100

Nine Liberal Arts students are among those named as IUPUI’s Top 100 Outstanding Students. Students are nominated by faculty, staff, and student organizations and selected by a committee of faculty, staff, and alumni. The students will be recognized at a dinner sponsored by the Indiana University Alumni Association/IUPUI Office of Alumni Relations on March 30th at the Downtown Marriott.

• Dustin Butler, Senior, Political Science
  Hometown: Terre Haute, Indiana
• Kevin Combs, Senior, History
  Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana
• Angela DeMien, Junior, English
  Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana
• Amelia Grant, Senior, History
  Hometown: Attica, Indiana
• Chetrice Mosley, Senior, Communication Studies
  Hometown: Greensburg, Indiana
• Greg Pottorff, Senior, Political Science/History
  Hometown: Munster, Indiana
• Gina Romano, Junior, Anthropology
  Hometown: Fort Wayne, Indiana
• Jennifer Scorniaenchi, Senior, Communication Studies/(Psychology)
  Hometown: Burlington, Ontario
• Caroline Wade, Senior, Communication Studies
  Hometown: Greenfield, Indiana
• Brittani Whitmore, Senior, Communication Studies
  Hometown: South Bend, India

Kelly Receives Irish-American Research Travel Fellowship

Assistant Professor of History Jason Kelly is a recipient of the 2007 Irish-American Research Travel Fellowship from the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS). Professor Kelly will travel from Indianapolis to Dublin to study unpublished manuscripts of the Earl of Charlemont (builder of the Casino at Marino) at the Royal Irish Academy. The research is for a book in progress on the society of Dilettanti, its members’ interest in archaeology and its influence on the British Enlightenment. Fellowship recipients are selected by a panel of scholars and undergo multiple readings. The ASECS is a nonprofit, educational group founded to promote the study of all aspects of the eighteenth century.

Liberal Arts Center and Institute Named as IUPUI Signature Centers

The Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture (CSRAC) and a new Institute for Research on Social Issues (IRSI) are among those chosen to receive the designation of “Signature Center” from IUPUI. The Signature Center initiative is designed to increase IUPUI’s research profile and emphasizes research that is interdisciplinary, unique to IUPUI, and engaged with the Indianapolis community. Campus-wide, 71 proposals were submitted; 19 were selected as IUPUI Signature Centers, a distinction that is accompanied by financial support from university administration as well as a commitment from the centers’ home schools.

Established in 1989, the CSRAC is a research and public outreach institute devoted to promoting a better understanding of the relation between religion and other aspects of American culture. Signature Center financial support will provide funds to restructure the CSRAC operations and to meet the Center’s space needs. The IRSI, focusing on social issues research and with special emphasis on international public health, will be among the newly formed entities made possible by the Signature Center initiative. Currently, the Consortium for Research on Social Issues supports the work of five existing centers and workgroups; under the new IRSI umbrella, Signature Center funding will provide for the formal development of administrative infrastructure, new collaborative partnerships, additional student opportunities, and advanced civic engagement activities.

In addition to the Center for Religion and American Culture and the Institute for Research on Social Issues, School of Liberal Arts departments, centers, and faculty are also involved with seven other Signature Centers: Center for Regenerative Biology and Medicine; Center for Family Violence Prevention, Education and Research; Randall L. Tobias Center for Leadership Excellence; Service Learning Collaborative; Binational/Cross-Cultural Health Enhancement Center; Center for Excellence in Bio-Computing.

[ Read more about the Signature Center Initiative ]

[ View the CSRAC Signature Center Proposal ]

[ View the IRSI Signature Center Proposal ]

Liberal Arts Faculty Awarded $156,239 in New Frontiers Funding

Five Liberal Arts faculty members have received a total of $156,239 from Indiana University in support of their groundbreaking research. The Indiana University New Frontiers in the Arts and Humanities Grants Program, funded by the Lilly Endowment, enables faculty members to expand their work into disciplinary or interdisciplinary frontiers that promise new insights into the human condition or pursue innovative directions in artistic creativity.

• David Bodenhamer
  Professor of History; Director, The Polis Center
  “Developing Methods and Tools for Humanities GIS”
  “Humanities GIS: An Expert Workshop
  
• Annie Gilbert Coleman
  Associate Professor of History
  “Where Wilderness Meets Consumer Culture”
  
• Kevin Cramer
  Associate Professor of History
  “Expanding the Boundaries of Europe”
  
• Elizabeth Goering
  Associate Professor of Communication Studies
  “And Justice for All?: A Thematic Analysis”
  
• David Hoegberg
  Associate Professor of English
  “JM Coetzee and the Critics”

Statewide Poetry Contest for High School Students

IUPUI is pleased to announce the inaugural statewide IUPUI Poetry Contest for high school students. The Office of Academic Affairs and the IU School of Liberal Arts have organized the competition to foster interest in reading and writing poetry and to provide a forum for students to showcase their talents. Cash prizes will be awarded in the amount of $200 for first place, $100 for second place, $50 for third place, $25 for four fourth places and 25 “Honorable Mention” gift certificates of $10 each. Winners will also be eligible for significant scholarships at IUPUI upon enrollment. The winning entries will be published in a commemorative booklet and presented at an awards ceremony in April. [ More information on the contest ]

Ardemagni is Continuing Education Faculty of the Year

Pictured: Professor Ardemagni at center with her nominators, Nancy Ciskowski and Chuck Fearnow.

Professor Enrica Ardemagni of the Department of World Languages and Cultures (Spanish Program) has been named “Faculty Member of the Year,” by the Indiana Council for Continuing Education. The award is made to a faculty member for service to nontraditional students, generally those age 25 and older, for teaching service to credit and/or noncredit students, and includes recognition of all forms of service to nontraditional students. Nominators wrote of, "Enrica Ardemagni has served nontraditional students through IUPUI Community Learning Network in several capacities: as an instructor; as a course developer; as a collaborator in creating distance education courses; and as a Continuing Studies Noncredit Programs Advisory Committee member. She has also been an excellent instructor, but stood out for the breadth of her contributions to Continuing Education."

New Program Combines Medical and Philosophy Degrees for Bioethics Impact

As the development, delivery, financing, and regulation of healthcare products and services continue as major economic and social endeavors, the field of bioethics - the ethics of the health and life sciences - is growing rapidly in importance, both nationally and internationally. Two academic units have joined forces to provide specialized training for those who will play leadership roles in addressing bioethical issues. The Department of Philosophy in the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI and the IU School of Medicine will run a combined-degrees program that offers a doctoral degree in medicine and a Master of Arts degree in philosophy, with a concentration in bioethics.

Bioethical issues, whether social, legal or philosophical, confront a diverse array of institutions, including state and federal agencies, healthcare organizations, and research and educational institutions. National and multinational corporations, along with human rights organizations, medical insurers, and religious agencies, also face bioethical issues. "In combining the philosophical study of bioethics with the study of medicine, students will acquire the perspective, knowledge and expertise that will equip them to provide leadership concerning the bioethical issues faced by such institutions," said Jason T. Eberl, assistant professor and graduate co-director in the Department of Philosophy.

Symposium, Exhibit Recognize 100 Year Anniversary of Indiana Eugenics Legislation

One of the darkest chapters of social policy will be explored in a public symposium and exhibit in April focusing on Indiana's enactment of the world's first eugenic sterilization law in 1907.

The event and exhibit, hosted by the Indiana State Library and co-presented by the IU Schools of Liberal Arts, Medicine, and Law together with the Herron School of Art and Design, will examine the relevance of the history of sterilization and other eugenic measures to contemporary issues in human genetics, public health, reproductive health, mental health, and the law.

In April 1907, Indiana Gov. Frank Hanley signed into law the Compulsory Sterilization Law of Indiana, a bill providing for involuntary sterilization "to prevent procreation of confirmed criminals, idiots, imbeciles and rapists." Found unconstitutional by the Indiana Supreme Court 14 years later, a revised bill was enacted in 1927 applying to "inmates of state institutions, who are insane, idiotic, imbecile, feebleminded, and epileptic, and who by the laws of heredity are the probable potential parents of socially inadequate offspring likewise afflicted." This law remained in force until repealed by the Indiana General Assembly in 1974.

"A century ago supporters viewed surgical sterilization as part of a broader eugenics program, including immigration and marriage restriction, whose goal was to better the human race by preventing reproduction of those with 'inferior' hereditary traits, such as criminality and the other conditions described in the legislation. They claimed their policy was based on the best science of the day, and through the 1930s there was only ineffective opposition from the scientific and medical community," said William Schneider, Ph.D., professor of history and Constance M. Baker and Robert S. Ort Chair in International Healthcare Philanthropy in the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI. [ Complete Press Release ]

Christian J. W. Kloesel
(1942-2006)

Christian J. W. Kloesel, Professor and Chair Emeritus of English, passed away on December 15, 2006. A native of Germany who earned his postsecondary degrees in Germany, France, and the United States, Dr. Kloesel came to IUPUI and the School of Liberal Arts in 1976. At the university, he served in various capacities with both the Peirce Edition Project, a documentary editing project focusing on the work of American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, and the Department of English. Ultimately, he led the Edition as Director and Editor from 1984 to 1993, and chaired the English Department from 2001 through his retirement in July of 2006. A member of numerous professional organizations, a prolific writer and editor, and an active and dedicated teacher and scholar, Dr. Kloesel will be sorely missed by his many colleagues and friends at IUPUI and in the larger academic community.

Memorial contributions may be made to: IU Foundation for the School of Liberal Arts, PO Box 663802, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46266-3802. [ Read the obituary ] [ Read “A Life Lived” feature ] [ Read the tribute by Professor Susanmarie Harrington ]

Liberal Arts-Hakuoh University (Japan) Partnership

The School of Liberal Arts is proud to formally announce the formation of an exchange partnership program with Hakuoh University. Hakuoh University is located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, Indiana's “sister states” since 1999. Hakuoh University is a small, private coed university with about 3,000 students located in the city of Oyama, about one hour north of Tokyo. As a result of the new arrangement, up to three Hakuoh students per year or six students for a single semester will receive tuition remission to attend IUPUI. For IUPUI students, Hakuoh University waives tuition and dormitory costs; the number of exchange students there has not been fixed. Presently there are eight IUPUI students studying at Hakuoh, most of whom study Japanese language and culture.

The Hakuoh-IUPUI partnership is the first exchange program between IUPUI and a Japanese University. The program is sponsored by the Program in Japanese Studies in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI.

De Waal Edits Book on Philosopher Susan Haack

Cornelis de Waal, Associate Professor Philosophy and Associate Editor of the Peirce Edition Project, is he editor of A Lady of Distinctions, Susan Haack: The Philosopher Responds to her Critics (Prometheus Books). In the volume, comprised of sixteen essays and rebuttals, distinguished author and professor of philosophy Susan Haack responds to her fellow philosophers and critics on a wide range of topics that do not merely involve the esoteric nature of contemporary philosophy. Instead, as is Haack’s forte, she asserts her views on important current issues such as how scientists conduct their work, the ethics of affirmative action and the pitfalls of preferential hiring, and how the distorted reality that postmodern thinkers have presented has corrupted legal thinking. Her charge is to bring clarity, precision, integrity, and most of all, practicality to her field of study. With an introduction and complete bibliography by editor Cornelis de Waal, Susan Haack: A Lady of Distinctions is a challenging, unique, and comprehensive presentation of Haack’s ideas in the form of critical and interpretative inquiries about those ideas with her exacting, witty responses. [ Visit the publisher's website ]

The Joseph Taylor Symposium 2007
Urban Universities/Urban Communities: Partners in Social Justice

The Joseph Taylor Symposium honors the legacy of Dr. Joseph Taylor, the first dean of the School of Liberal Arts, and addresses issues of interest to urban communities. The 2007 event, Urban Universities/Urban Communities: Partners in Social Justice, reflects IUPUI’s focus on civic engagement while also recognizing the complexities that emerge when bridging boundaries between academic institutions and their communities. The program showcases existing collaborations, features keynote speakers Professor Edward Curtis (Religious Studies) and Professor Dana-Ain Davis (Anthropology, SUNY-Purchase College), and provides ample opportunity for audience participation. The Eighteenth Annual Joseph Taylor Symposium will be held on February 15, 2007 at the University Place Hotel and Conference Center. [ Additional Information/Registration ] [ Symposium Brochure ]

Center on Philanthropy Receives $40 Million

The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University will receive a $40-million endowment grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., IU President Adam Herbert and Endowment President N. Clay Robbins announced on Tuesday. Investment returns on the $40 million endowment grant will generate about $2 million annually, replacing a similar amount of annual operating support that the Center currently receives under a previous three-year grant from Lilly Endowment. A portion of the new grant will be used to match future gifts for the Center’s operations. The majority of the investment earnings from the Lilly Endowment funds will support the Center’s administration, planning, evaluation, technology, public affairs, communications and fundraising efforts that in turn enable it to provide important programs to students, nonprofit professionals, volunteers, philanthropists and communities. Founded nearly 20 years ago with an initial grant from Lilly Endowment, the center is part of the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI and has built an international reputation for philanthropy and not-for-profit management research. [ Press Release ]

Winter College with the Alumni Association
February 9-11, 2007, Sanibel Island, Florida

Join fellow alumni and friends at the Alumni Association’s Winter College in Fort Myers in February, 2007. Participants will experience a dynamic weekend of educational workshops, lectures and lively discussions, while enjoying sumptuous food, luxurious accommodations, and the warm Florida sun. The Sanibel Harbour Resort and Spa will serve as our headquarters. Accomplished faculty will join us for the weekend to lead our educational program; Liberal Arts faculty on the program are Jason Eberl (Philosophy), Phillip Goff (Religious Studies), Patrick Rooney (Economics/Center on Philanthropy), Eric Meslin (Philosophy/Medicine). [ More information ]

New Dual MD-MA Program in Medicine and Bioethics

The Department of Philosophy in the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI and the IU School of Medicine announce the approval of a new combined-degree program which offers a doctoral degree in medicine (MD) and a master's degree in philosophy (MA) with a concentration in bioethics. In combining the philosophical study of bioethics with the study of medicine, students will acquire the perspective, knowledge, and expertise that will equip them to provide leadership concerning the bioethical issues faced by such institutions, as well as to implement ethical principles in their own practice. For further information on this program, please contact Dr. Jason T. Eberl at jeberl@iupui.edu, phone: (317) 278-9239, or visit the MA program's web-site at http://www.iupui.edu/~philosop/ma.htm.

Edition of The Nonprofit Sector Features 27 New Chapters

The second edition of The Nonprofit Sector: A Research Handbook, co-edited by Professor of Economics and Philanthropic Studies Richard Steinberg features 27 all new chapters commissioned from leading experts in the world of philanthropic studies. It provides a novel, comprehensive, cross-disciplinary perspective on nonprofit organizations and their role and function in society. This new, updated edition keeps pace with industry trends and advances as well as with the changing interests and needs of students, practitioners, and researchers. As before, every chapter has been written to stand on its own, providing sufficient background for the reader to follow the argument without referring to other chapters—allowing readers to selectively choose those chapters that are most relevant to a particular course, interest, or issue. [ Publisher's Website ]

Out of the Closets & Into the Courts

This new book by Ellen Ann Andersen, Associate Professor of Political Science, explores both the promise and the limits of using legal mobilization to effect social change. Over the past 30 years, the gay rights movement has moved from the margins to the center of American politics, sparking debate from bedroom to boardroom to battlefield. Out of the Closets and Into the Courts analyzes the most recent gay rights cases, and explores the complex relationship between litigation and social change. Andersen describes what happens when these cases, many overseen by the Lambda Legal Defense Fund, the nation's oldest and largest gay rights defense firm, enter the courtroom, and explains why they have met with mixed success. [ More information ]

Book on Thomas Aquinas and Bioethics Questions

A new book by Jason Eberl, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, examines the principles put forth by Thomas Aquinas and relates them to the questions considered by modern day bioethicists. Eberl applies Aquinas’s views on the seminal topics of human nature and morality to key questions in bioethics at the margins of human life – questions which are currently contested in the academia, politics and the media such as: When does a human person’s life begin? How should we define and clinically determine a person’s death? Is abortion ever morally permissible? How should we resolve the conflict between the potential benefits of embryonic stem cell research and the lives of human embryos? Thomistic Principles and Bioethics presents a significant philosophical viewpoint which will motivate further dialogue amongst religious and secular arenas of inquiry concerning such complex issues of both individual and public concern. [ Publisher's website ]

English Professor in Top 1% of Chicago Marathon

Steve Wolcott, Lecturer in the Department of English, recently completed his 17th Marathon. Finishing 330th out of 34,698 in the Chicago Marathon on October 22, 2006, it was a top 1% finish for Wolcott. He says of the experience, "The Chicago Marathon is such a great event: it's as if the population of an entire city (34,000 people) comes together to run--something that most of us probably do individually. Even before the race began, I felt caught up in the city's excitement. As I waited to catch a bus to the starting line, other runners joined me in Hyde Park. At each stop, the bus picked up more folks in sweats and running shoes. We were gathering critical mass. The weather prediction--cold rain turning to snow--was on everyone's lips, but the day turned out dry. The gusting winds may have even helped me out as I surged to catch up with groups of runners rather than face the wind on my own." Wolcott is shown here during a previous Marathon held in Madison, Wisconsin.

Kraatz Authors Book on Eating Disorders

Eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder are some of the most deadly "mental illnesses;" however, research into the nature of these conditions and possible treatments remains virtually unfunded. As a result, there is no standard model of treatment for eating disorders and no definitive information on the number of people in the U.S. who suffer from one or more of these conditions. Chris Kraatz, Senior Lecturer in the Philosophy is the author of Radical Recovery: A Manifesto of Eating Disorder Pride, a book which addresses the national epidemic of eating disorders and offers practical suggestions for how to effectively promote awareness and change in a more responsible and compassionate way. Issues addressed include success rates for eating disorders treatment, current research, mortality and eating disorders, the presence of eating disorders in both sexes and all ages, overcoming social stigma, and eating disorders activism. [ Read more about the book ]

Curtis Authors New Book on Black Muslim Religion

Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam came to America's attention in the 1960s and 1970s as a radical separatist African American social and political group. But the movement was also a religious one. With Black Muslim Religion in the Nation of Islam, 1960-1975 (University of North Carolina Press) Edward E. Curtis IV, Millennium Scholar of the Liberal Arts and associate professor of religious studies,offers the first comprehensive examination of the rituals, ethics, theologies, and religious narratives of the Nation of Islam, showing how the movement combined elements of Afro-Eurasian Islamic traditions with African American traditions to create a new form of Islamic faith.

Considering everything from bean pies to religious cartoons, clothing styles to prayer rituals, Curtis explains how the practice of Islam in the movement included the disciplining and purifying of the black body, the reorientation of African American historical consciousness toward the Muslim world, an engagement with both mainstream Islamic texts and the prophecies of Elijah Muhammad, and the development of a holistic approach to political, religious, and social liberation. Curtis's analysis pushes beyond essentialist ideas about what it means to be Muslim and offers a view of the importance of local processes in identity formation and the appropriation of Islamic traditions.

Thuesen’s Research on Predestination in IU Magazine

Associate Professor Peter Thuesen’s (Religious Studies) research for a book he is writing called Predestination: The American Career of a Contentious Doctrine is the focus of an article in the most recent issue of Indiana University Research & Creative Activity magazine. Predestination, he explains in the article, "is the particular aspect of providence that has to do with the predetermination of each person's ultimate destiny, traditionally defined as going to heaven or to hell." Author Lauren Bryant writes of Thuesen’s area of research: The ancient doctrine of predestination may be the biggest stumbling block of all Western Christian theology. As Thuesen puts it, “How do you balance the idea of an omnipotent God, who has the power to predetermine all things, with human agency and free will?" Theologians have wrestled with this question for at least a millennium, parsing Biblical passages every which way to support their views. (One of the most frequently cited texts is Romans 9, which includes the famous “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.’) And when the predestination question is set in the American context, it becomes an obstacle of confounding proportions. "Americans are accustomed to the idea of self-determination in all things, including religion,” Thuesen explains. “You say to someone, your destiny is predetermined by a higher power. . . . Well, many people rebel against that notion. When predestination came into conflict with the American, Enlightenment-influenced notion of self-determination and free will, it created a 400-year history of debate.” [ Read the complete article ]

Curtis Wins Best Paper Prize

A paper by Millennium Scholar and Associate Professor of Religious Studies Edward Curtis has won the 2006 best paper prize from the Religion and American Culture Caucus of the American Studies Association. “Arab Cold War, Pan-Islamism, and the Formation of African-American Islam,” delivered at the American Studies Association’s annual meeting in Oakland, California, takes readers from the topsy-turvy world of Arab nationalism in the 1950s to the American social upheavals of the 1960s, showing how events half way around the world shaped the practice of Islam on the streets of Black America. It also explains how Sunni Muslim African Americans like Malcolm X, members of the Nation of Islam, and black Muslim fundamentalists, though differing greatly in their religious outlooks, fueled increased African-American identification with the Muslim world and challenged previous notions of what it meant to be black. Curtis is also author of the recently published Black Muslim Religion in the Nation of Islam, 1960-1975 (University of North Carolina Press).

Bulen Symposium Features Governor Daniels and Columnist Broder

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist David Broder will lead the lineup of speakers at the seventh Bulen Symposium on American Politics on December 18 at University Place Conference Center on the campus of IUPUI. The Bulen Symposium, sponsored by the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, is a one-day event during which political practitioners, journalists and scholars come together to examine the state of the American political system and its two major parties. Stan Huseland, Indiana journalist and author of a new biography, Political Warrior: The Life and Times of L. Keith Bulen, will be the keynote speaker during the symposium’s luncheon, scheduled for noon. Other speakers include Indiana Democratic Party chairman Dan Parker, Indiana Republican Party chairman Murray Clark, New York Post columnist Ryan Sager, Washington Post reporter Juliet Eilperin and Vanderbilt University political scientist John Geer. [ Additional information/Registration ]

Craig Authors Book on John Ruskin

John Ruskin and the Ethics of Consumption, by David M. Craig, associate professor of religious studies, is the first book on this Victorian critic and public intellectual by a scholar of religion and ethics. This work recovers Ruskin's engaged critique of economic life and his public practice of moral imagination. With its reading of Ruskin as an innovative contributor to a tradition of ethics concerned with character, culture, and community, this book recasts interpretations of Ruskin's place in nineteenth-century literature and aesthetics; it challenges nostalgic diagnoses of the supposed historical loss of virtue ethics; and it demonstrates the limitations of any politics that eschews common purpose as vital to individual agency and social welfare. With the triumph of global capitalism, and the near-silence of any opposing voice, Ruskin’s model of an engaged reading of culture and his public practice of moral imagination remain important today. [ Read more ]

Sabbatical Speaker Series 2006-2007

• "Two Languages, One City: Spanish/Arabic Bilinguals in Ceuta, Spain"
  Marta Anton
  Assistant Professor of Spanish

Ceuta is a Spanish territory located on the North African coast bordering Morocco. Because of its location and its demographic fabric, Spanish, the official language of the city, is in contact with dialectal Arabic, spoken by a large segment of the population of Moroccan origin.

Professor Anton will describe the use of Spanish, dialectal Arabic (dariya), Classical Arabic and Berber by bilingual and multilingual high school students in Ceuta. She will also discuss the level of competence that bilingual speakers have in their languages, their motivation to use a particular language of their linguistic repertoire, and their use of code-switching. The study shows the consequences of the prolonged and intense language contact situation in this North African city.

• “Are We Having Fun Yet, General?: The Tragicomedy of George Custer’s Kansas Years”
  Robert Rebein
  Associate Professor of Creative Writing Associate Chair for Faculty

The spring of 1867 found George Armstrong Custer chasing the pesky Cheyennes and unruly Sioux across the plains of Western Kansas. For Custer, Civil War hero and avid sportsman, this work promised to be brief but invigorating–a safari of sorts, a romp across the Great Plains of the West during which he expected to bag multitudinous amounts of trophy game. That he was wrong in this assumption was but the first lesson in a long and trying summer for the so-called Boy General. [ Watch Video ]

• “Images of War in Yusef Komunyakaa's Dien Cai Dau ”
  Thomas Marvin
  Associate Professor of English

Yusef Komunyakaa's collection of poems about the Vietnam War, Dien Cai Dau , is unified by repeated images that gather symbolic power as a reader moves through the volume. We will consider several poems in a lecture/discussion format that welcomes insights from the audience, for, as Komunyakaa has pointed out, "Images invite the reader in as a participant in the making of meaning." [ Watch Video ]

• "Communication Across the Pond: Forces that Help and Challenge US and UK Engineers"
  Marjorie Rush Hovde
  Associate Professor of Technical Communications and English

Engineers from the US and UK working on a common project discover that understanding each other's English is the least of their problems in cross-cultural communication. This presentation looks at the forces that help them understand each other -- and those that make such understandings more challenging. Hear how they handle these communication surprises on a daily basis in order to achieve excellence in engineering. [ Watch Video ]

• "The Changing Atlantic Alliance"
  John McCormick
  Professor and Chair of Political Science

Since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the Atlantic Alliance has changed out of all recognition. This presentation will argue that US global leadership is on the decline, challenged in part by a resurgent Europe, which offers both a different interpretation of global problems and a different approach to addressing those problems. [ Watch Video ]

• "Ten Weeks in the Tidewater"
  Elizabeth Monroe
  Associate Professor of History and Director of the Graduate Program in Public History

This talk will discuss how to develop a legal biography when major courthouse collections have burned or have become inaccessible, AKA the thrill of the unexpected or how to use a lawyer's caseload to assess changes in the roles of lawyers and their professional attitudes in the early national period. [ Watch Video ]

Ferguson Edits New Book on State Government

Cover for The Executive Branch of State Government: People, Process, and Politics

The Executive Branch of State Government: People, Process, and Politics (ABC-CLIO, 2006) edited by Associate Professor Margaret Ferguson (Political Science), examines the crucial role of the executive branch at the state level, in particular the governor's responsibilities as state CEO, chief legislator, chief judge, crisis manager, chief of party, head of the state militia, and lead advocate and liaison for the state in Washington, D.C. These branches, like the states themselves, have undergone many dramatic changes in American history, as governorships evolved from being overbearing representatives of the British monarchy to mere figureheads to high-impact policy leaders both within the states and in the country as a whole. The Executive Branch of State Government chronicles this evolution from colonial times to the present, including an in-depth look at the current importance of the governor's office on the local and national political stage. In addition, it provides a comprehensive examination of the people and processes driving the agencies that make up the state bureaucracies, and the multitude of internal and external forces that impact their work.

Liberal Arts Plans Participation in Panther Racing Partnership

Panther Racing and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis will partner on a single-car, student-run race team during the 2007 Indy Pro Series season. A tentative design for the team’s car is shown.

Panther Racing and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis will partner on a single-car, student-run race team during the 2007 Indy Pro Series season, Panther officials announced July 2.

The IUPUI Indy Pro Series team will be comprised primarily of IUPUI student interns from various university programs including engineering and technology, business, and liberal arts. With direction from Panther officials in the areas of engineering and management, the team will compete in the full season schedule with a professional driver.

"The partnership provides a wonderful opportunity for liberal arts students to benefit from the investment that the state of Indiana has made in motorsports," said Robert White, dean of the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI. "Our students, with expertise in areas that include writing, editing, and public speaking, the economics of sport, public history, and a host of other areas, will bring much to this relationship with Panther," White said. [ Complete Press Release ]

Full Throttle PR
By Rodger Johnson, Communication Studies Major/Panther Intern

Rodger Johnson, Communication Studies Major/Panther Intern

Cultivating a diverse set of skills was important to me when I accepted an internship with Panther Racing LLC. Besides being part of a dynamic, fast-paced team, working with Panther has helped me develop skills in writing, sponsorship development and many other aspects of an experienced PR professional.

Working in PR, you have to think fast and act quickly. Just the other day, we put together a presentation for a new sponsor. We worked late, we worked hard, but the reward is in knowing that you’ve built another relationship for an organization that continues to give back to the community.

Liberal Arts Welcomes New Faculty Members for Fall 2006

Please join us in welcoming Liberal Arts’ newest faculty members. Ranging across 10 disciplines and with equally broad academic interests, the new cohort of Liberal Arts faculty represents the school’s diversity and excellence and includes two new center directors.

• Aniruddha “Rudy” Banerjee, Geography
• David Bell, Sociology
• Linda Bell, Communication Studies
• Martin Coleman, Philosophy/Santayana Edition
• John Dichtl, History/National Council on Public History
• Mitchell Douglas, English
• Johnny Flynn, Religious Studies
• Shawn Nayeri, Geography
• Lynn Blinn Pike, Sociology
• Ian Sheeler, Communication Studies
• Jasper Sumner, Political Science
• Rosa Tezanos-Pinto, World Languages (Spanish)
• James Watson, Anthropology
• Debra White-Stanley, English

2006 Spirit & Place Festival: Tradition and Innovation

The Spirit & Place Civic Festival, a collaboration of the arts, humanities, and religion, will be held November 3-19, 2006. More than 150 partnering organizations will explore the timeless dance between tradition and innovation during this year’s festival. Tours and treasure hunts, art exhibits and plays, films and documentaries, concerts and festivals, worship services and nature hikes, panel discussions and workshops, storytelling and dance…there’s something for everyone! Events will examine a wide range of topics such as mental health, local history, the natural and built environment, and the arts as well as programs that celebrate Central Indiana’s racial, ethnic, and spiritual diversity. Visit www.spiritandplace.org now to search over 80 festival events by category (arts, religion, humanities), format (concert, workshop, exhibit, lecture, reading, etc.), audience (intergenerational, adult, family) and more. Log in to build your personal festival calendar. The Spirit and Place Festival is project of the Polis Center in the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI.

Eberl Co-edits Star Wars and Philosophy

Sensed a disturbance in The Force lately? Seventeen professional philosophers probe the deeper reaches of the Star Wars epic. Why do bad Sith nearly always tell the truth and good Jedi often tell lies? Was Anakin Skywalker predestined to become the evil Darth Vader? Is it justified to raise an army by breeding clones? If the Force must have a Dark Side, how can the Dark Side be evil? Why and how did the tyrannical Empire emerge from the democratic Republic? Are droids persons, entitled to civil rights? Is Yoda a Stoic or a Zen master? This volume is intended both to entertain and to enlighten as fundamental questions and foundational theories from the history of philosophy are illuminated against the background of a galaxy far, far away. [ Learn more ]

McCormick Authors New Book: The European Superpower

A new book by John McCormick (Political Science) looks at the rise of the European Union as a major new actor on the world stage. Taking issue with the conventional view that the United States is the world's last remaining superpower, The European Superpower (Palgrave Macmillan) argues that the EU has redefined the meaning of power in the international system, and has used its enormous economic presence and its growing political credibility to offer both a new interpretation of the sources of our most pressing problems, and a new set of responses.

The European economy is now bigger than that of the United States, the EU accounts for nearly 45 per cent of global trade, and many governments are pursuing access to the European marketplace; even, in several cases, membership of the EU. Where the United States still places much faith in hard power (military force and coercion) to pursue its foreign policy goals, the Europeans have opted instead for soft power (economic incentives, diplomacy, and the influence of ideas). And in a world where the US is increasingly out of step with others on issues as varied as the war on terrorism, climate change, relations with the United Nations, the Arab-Israeli problem, landmines, and the International Criminal Court, the EU has won new support for its global political leadership; McCormick concludes that its methods and values have made it the most compelling force in the world today for the spread of democracy and capitalism. The result has been the rise of a new bipolar international order, where the cold war-style military and ideological contest between the US and the USSR has been replaced by a new and subtler form of competition between the US and the EU.

Follow Your Heart!

Wondering how the west was won; what life is like in Africa; how to understand the stock market; or write a poem? Interested in working or studying abroad? Or studying the ways people live now and in the past? Love visiting museums and wish you could work there? Or considering graduate school but not sure in what? This fall the School of Liberal Arts is offering classes to fit your needs and schedule. We can help you get started or just help get you registered using the new system. Don't hesitate to follow your heart and live your dreams!

• Liberal Arts Undergraduate Majors and Certificates
• Liberal Arts Graduate Programs
• Graduate Non-Degree Program

E-mail a Liberal Arts Advisor [ slvthomp@iupui.edu ]
Call for information (317-274-3976)

IUPUI Signs Student Exchange Agreement with Hakuoh University, Japan

Pictured: Dean Robert White (left) shakes hands with Joji Kamioka, Vice Chairperson and Vice President of Hakuoh University. Tomikazu Fukuda, Governor of Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, and Dr. Uday Sukhatme, Executive Vice Chancellor of IUPUI look on.

IUPUI signed an agreement for tuition-free student exchange with Hakuoh University in Tochigi Prefecture in Japan, which has been Indiana’s Sister State since 1999. The agreement, signed by Vice President Joji Kamioka of Hakuoh University and IUPUI’s Executive Vice Chancellor Uday Sukhatme and Dean Robert White of Liberal Arts, will enable IUPUI students to attend Hakuoh University where they will learn Japanese tuition-free, while Hakuoh students will attend IUPUI tuition-free for their majors. Both universities seek to bridge the gap between theoretical and practical education by emphasizing applied knowledge and civic engagement. The agreement was endorsed by Governor Tomikazu Fukuda of Tochigi State, who was present at the signing after having been the guest of honor at the 2006 Midwest US-Japan Association Conference.

Gunderman Combines Medical, Educational, and Humanities Skills in Authoring New Book

Springer Publishing recently released Achieving Excellence in Medical Education, a new book by Richard Gunderman, MD PhD, Associate Professor of Radiology, Pediatrics, Medical Education, Philosophy, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy. The book explores the vision of excellence that shapes the education of 70,000 medical students and over 100,000 physicians in postgraduate educational programs in the United States, including the status of education as a priority of medical schools, best practices of medical educators and learners, and the promise and pitfalls of new educational technologies in medicine.

In the book's foreword, Thomas Inui, MD, President and CEO of the Regenstrief Institute, describes it as "a remarkable volume" and a "truly learned treatise on medical education, academic medical center leadership, and organizational development and excellence." Alfred Tauber, MD, Director of the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University, has written that "Gunderman draws on a rich tradition and provocatively challenges us to enact an ethical medicine that makes teaching and learning integral to clinical practice."

Gunderman, who is Vice Chair of Radiology and Director of Pediatric Radiology at Riley Hospital for Children, is a three-time winner of the Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award, and received the 2006 School of Medicine Faculty Teaching Award. He is the author of over 160 scholarly articles, and the second edition of his book, Essential Radiology: Clinical Presentation, Pathophysiology, Imaging, was published earlier this year by Thieme.

Liberal Arts Faculty in Gateway Scholars Program

Gateway Scholar, Anne Williams

For Anne Williams, the Gateway Scholars Program at IUPUI is like a blue chip stock: it just keeps paying dividends.

When Williams was invited to participate in the inaugural session of the Gateway Scholars Program, she jumped at the chance. The opportunity to complete an electronic textbook project for W132, a Gateway course, she had begun the previous summer was too good to let it pass by.

The Gateway Scholars Program was created to support invited course coordinators and other Gateway instructors in their efforts to find new ways to improve teaching and learning in introductory courses with large enrollments.

Each scholar receives a $5,000 stipend for their participation in the program's Summer Institute and a year-long faculty learning community. The Faculty Learning Community (FLC) for Gateway Scholars enables the conversation and work begun in the Summer Institute to continue throughout the academic year. The FLC focuses on discussions regarding the implementation of new teaching strategies as well as how scholars can bring new ideas about pedagogy to the attention of other Gateway instructors. [ Read the full story ]

Connor Advises Icelandic Government on Language Training

Connor, (left) is shown with Iceland’s president Olafur Ragnar Grimsson (right).

Professor Ulla M. Connor, Director of the Indiana Center for Intercultural Communication (ICIC), Barbara E. and Karl R. Zimmer Chair in Intercultural Communication, and a member of the Department of English in the School of Liberal Arts, traveled to Iceland to meet with two government ministries to discuss the ICIC model of language training. Iceland receives thousands of immigrants from around the world each year, and these immigrants need to learn Icelandic for work, school, and other functional purposes. The ICIC model, tested in Indiana for several years, includes both language for learners’ specific purposes and intercultural communication for the native Icelanders.

While there, Professor Connor was interviewed by Iceland’s National Radio on the same topic. She also held conversations on the model with Iceland’s former president, Madame Vigdis Finnbogadottir (President, 1980-1996, first woman in the world to be elected a constitutional Head of State) and now UNESCO’s Goodwill Ambassador for Languages (since 1997) and, since 2000, UNESCO’s Goodwill Ambassador against Racism and Xenophobia. Professor Connor was also received by Iceland’s current president Olafur Ragnar Grimsson.

Riley Poetry Slam
October 5, 2006

Henry Ryder, James Whitcomb Riley impersonator, in action.

Join in the fun on Thursday, October 5th, with a poetry slam featuring the work of poet James Whitcomb Riley. In celebration of the University Library’s digitization of 200 original Riley photographs, 100 letters, and 24 early editions of his poetry, Riley impersonator Henry Ryder and longtime IUPUI friend and former administrator, Kim Manlove, will present their interpretations of a selection of Riley’s work.

Riley, (1849–1916), beloved American writer and poet called the "Hoosier poet" and America's "Children's Poet" made a start writing newspaper verse in Hoosier dialect for the Indianapolis Journal in 1875. Known for his dialect recitations and pithy pragmatic remarks, his popular verse was humorous or sentimental— included in the latter was "Little Orphan Annie." He knew the secret of his own success: “simple sentiments that come from the heart” and satisfied his public with modest verse that was "heart high." He supported himself touring with dialect and public readings of his poetry.

The digitization project makes available materials previously too fragile for public viewing. This online collection captured Indiana life at the turn of the century, benefiting teachers, historians, scholars and fans of Riley and his work. Co-sponsored by The Writers’ Center of Indianapolis, Inc., Indianapolis Art Center, Riley Children’s Foundation, IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, Hancock County Public Library, and the Riley Old Home Society.

$1.5 Million Bequest Expands Masarachia Scholars Program

Sam Masarachia

Back in 1999, when Sam Masarachia honored the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI with a $1.2 million gift to endow a scholarship program, he gave no hint that there might be more to come. Today, a $1.5 million bequest from his estate means the Masarachia Scholars program will truly “pay it forward” for Sam Masarachia. Masarachia, who died in November 2004 at the age of 97, established the program to provide four-year, full, in-state tuition scholarships for IUPUI students pursuing careers in senior citizen advocacy, labor relations, or community advocacy. Since the first scholarships were awarded in 2001, 18 students have been enrolled the program. Currently, nine IUPUI students receive Masarachia Scholarships. Two incoming freshmen will also receive scholarships this fall. “This bequest expands the program substantially and ensures that many more students will become Sam Masarachia Scholars,” said Robert White, dean of the School of Liberal Arts. “As such, these students are participants in a program built on the values of a true community hero.” [ Read more about the Masarachia bequest ]

Faculty Member Named French Teacher of the Year

To paraphrase a Jerry Lee Lewis song, there is a whole lot of learning going on in the French classes taught by Ellen Sexauer at IUPUI. Described as a bright and perceptive instructor with an inspiring rapport with students, Sexauer was selected as the 2006 Indiana French Teacher of the Year at the collegiate level by the Executive Board of the Indiana chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French. "Students always have wonderful things to say about Ellen and about her interactive methodology in working with the material being examined," said Rosalie Vermette, a French colleague in the School of Liberal Arts' Department of World Languages and Cultures. "There is a lot of student learning of language and culture going on in her classes." [ Complete Press Release ]

International Studies Degree Approved

On June 9th, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education granted final approval to the School of Liberal Arts' newest major, International Studies. The International Studies major is a 33 credit interdisciplinary major which requires students to take courses from at least four different departments or schools.

The interdisciplinary character of International Studies distinguishes it from International Relations (a specific sub-field of Political Science) with which it is often confused. Students who enroll in the new International Studies major will learn another language, specialize in a given region of the world (Latin America and the Caribbean; Europe; Asia; Africa; the Middle East), study abroad, focus their coursework on a thematic concentration (development; international business and economics; global civil society; comparative systems; global and cross-cultural interactions; international relations; global environment) and develop a broad awareness of the major global forces at work in the 21st century world.

The required introductory course for both the new major and minor, I 100 Introduction to International Studies, will be taught for the first time in Fall 2006 on Monday nights. [ More information on the new International Studies major and minor ] [ Contact the Program Director Scott Pegg ]

Zimmer Awarded Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters at IUPUI Commencement

Commencement marshal Becky Porter, Karl Zimmer, and IU President Adam Herbert

Karl Zimmer Jr., past board chairman of the Indiana Center for Intercultural Communication (ICIC) in the School of Liberal Arts, received an honorary Indiana University Doctor of Humane Letters degree on Sunday, May 14, at IUPUI’s 37th Annual Commencement.

Zimmer, the former chair and CEO of Zimmer Paper Products, Inc., former (four term) director of the Indiana Humanities Council, and longtime trustee and board member of the Athenaeum Foundation, was praised for his many accomplishments in the business world as well as his devotion to the arts and humanities in Indianapolis and to IUPUI’s School of Liberal Arts. English Professor and ICIC Director Ulla Connor said, “Karl Zimmer is that rare individual who combines business acumen with creative and scholarly talent.”

Along with his wife, Barbara Zimmer, who taught part-time for the Department of English for many years, Karl co-chaired the Liberal Arts Campaign during the Campaign for IUPUI. Together they established the school’s first endowed chair in Intercultural Communication. The Zimmers have been extensive travelers in both career and personal life. The endowed chair and Karl’s work with the ICIC are tied to their belief in education and in the importance of intercultural understanding and appreciation.

Zimmer has led a life in pursuit of humanitarian, business, and scholarly endeavors. From his academic studies in history and languages and his world travels for international enterprise, to his vigorous community service on behalf of various humanities organizations, Karl Zimmer is an impressive ambassador for the value liberal arts education at home and abroad. Dean Robert W. White notes that “Karl Zimmer is a Renaissance man in a modern world. His contributions to the School of Liberal Arts, to IUPUI, to Indianapolis, and to the world, inspire and motivate all who know him.”

Hyatt Named Boyer Scholar

Susan B. Hyatt, Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology

Susan B. Hyatt, Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology, has been selected as one of seven Boyer Scholars for academic year 2006-07. Hyatt is the only Boyer Scholar this year in the School of Liberal Arts. According to the Center for Service and Learning, which administers the Boyer Scholars Program, "The Boyer Scholars Faculty Development Program is intended to support faculty who are experienced in service learning and civic engagement to document and disseminate their work and best practice to others." The seven fellows are each expected to carry out research on an issue connected with service learning and civic engagement, with the expectation that by the end of the year, each fellow will have completed at least one scholarly article for publication and will also have presented the results of his or her work in a range of academic and community venues.

This year's Boyer Scholars represent a number of disciplines including Dentistry, Architecture, Library Science, Social Work, Physical Education and Criminal Justice in addition to Hyatt's focus on Urban Anthropology. During this coming year, Hyatt will examine the notion of student research as community service; toward that end, she will be conducting a series of interviews with community residents and staff members of community-based organizations and agencies to assess the effects of student research projects in Anthropology that have been undertaken in community settings.

Faculty and Alumni Books Named Best in Indiana

Books by English Professor Karen Kovacik Ray Boomhower (MA, 1995, History), and Barbara Koons (BA, 1984, English) have been recognized as some of Indiana’s best. The competition, held by the Indiana Center for the Book, recognizes books by Indiana authors or about Indiana in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and children’s literature categories. Kovacik’s collection of poems, Metropolis Burning, was named the best in the poetry division; Boomhower’s The Sword and the Pen: A Life of Lew Wallace was a finalist in the children’s literature category; and, Night Highway by Barbara Koons was a finalist in the poetry category.

Liberal Arts Staff Members Awarded First Annual Schultheis Awards

Don Schultheis and Wanda Colwell

Don Schultheis and Terri Crews

Wanda Colwell, Secretary in the Department of English, and Terri Crews, Program Coordinator for the Center for Economic Education, are the 2006 recipients of the Don Schultheis Award for Outstanding Staff Members in Liberal Arts. Dean Robert White said, “Staff members regularly go above and beyond the call of duty and give extra of themselves to the School. I’m pleased that with this award the School can give something back to the staff. I’m also delighted that it is named after someone who was with us before there was even an IUPUI, Don Schultheis. It was my pleasure to work with Don.”

In recommending Wanda for the award, English faculty members wrote, “Wanda is the glue that holds the large, heterogeneous English Department (with 60 full-time faculty and 300 majors) together. She’s active in ways that will never be found in a job description but are essential to the functioning of a rapidly changing department. Wanda helps us to make and keep our community. Though she has no time at all for gossip, she keeps us informed . . . The words used most often to describe Wanda are patient, empathetic, and caring. In this large institution, Wanda goes out of her way to help people through bureaucratic mazes.”

Terri, nominated by her colleagues in the Center from Economic Education, “has gone far beyond normal expectations for her position in her regular program planning, arranging of materials deliveries to schools through the Econo-Van delivery service, administration of the Center’s economic education library, recruiting of participants and speakers for Center programs, and dealing with a diverse public that includes teachers, government officials, senior corporate management, administrators of NGO’s and many others. …the Center would be radically less successful without her…would not benefit from a strong international reputation.”

Snodgrass Awarded Fulbright-Hays Grant

Michael Snodgrass, Associate Professor of History

Michael Snodgrass, Associate Professor of History, has been awarded a Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Grant of $35,895 by the US Department of Education. The grants supports his travel to Mexico City and Guadalajara to conduct research for his study “Across the Border and Back Again,” which explores the history of Mexican emigration to the USA from the 1920s through the 1970s. His study examines Mexican government policy towards emigration, public debates about the issue, and migration’s effects on regions and villages that sent emigrants north. Snodgrass is a specialist in modern Latin American history, U.S.-Latin American relations, and Mexican immigration. He is the author of Deference and Defiance in Monterrey: Workers, Paternalism, and Revolution in Mexico, 1890-1950 published by Cambridge University Press in 2003.

McCormick Authors Two New Political Texts

John McCormick, Professor and Chair of Political Science, has authored two new editions of his classic political texts, Understanding the European Union, 3rd edition (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005) and Comparative Politics in Transition, 5th edition (Wadsworth, 2006). Understanding the European Union is the second edition of a textbook designed for upper-division courses on the politics of the European Union. It has been translated into Slovak and Macedonian, and since it was first published in 1999 it has been adopted for use at colleges and universities in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and the United States. [ See Palgrave Macmillan website ]. Comparative Politics in Transition is the fifth edition of a textbook designed for use in introductory comparative politics courses. It divides the world into six groups of countries - liberal democracies, commmunist and post-community countries, newly industrializing countries, less developed countries, Islamic countries, and marginal countries - and uses ten case studies from around the world to illustrate the many different forms that government and politics takes. Since it was first published in 1996 it has been adopted for use at nearly 200 colleges and universities in 44 US states and in Canada. [