William F. Wieczorek, director and professor, Center for Health and Social Research, was reappointed by the Erie County executive to serve on the Erie County Mental Hygiene Community Services Board. His term will expire in December 2010.
A letter by Emma McFayden, assistant director of recruitment and retention, Educational Opportunity Program, was selected for inclusion in the audio version of Go, Tell Michell: African American Women Write to the New First Lady, edited by Barbara Seals Nevergold and Peggy Brooks-Bertram. This passionate and astonishing audiobook gathers together letters to Michelle Obama written by African American and African women.
Drew Kahn, chair and professor, Theater, narrated the candle-lighting ceremony for Yom Hashoah: Observance of the Holocaust, at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Buffalo on April 26.
Stephen Houseknecht, lecturer, Fine Arts, currently has works from his ongoing Bomber Diptych series included in three juried exhibitions: the 86th Annual Spring Show at the Erie Art Museum, in Erie, Pennsylvania; Made in NY 2009 at the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center in Auburn, New York; and the Area Artists Show, in the Albright-Knox Collectors Gallery, where he received the “Curator’s Choice” recognition during the opening reception on May 15. The Albright-Knox also has one of his prints on display in the Education Corridor.
Houseknecht’s advanced photography class was invited to shoot the recent Runway 2.0 fashion show at the Burchfield Penney Art Center at Buffalo State. His class covered the full event, from the Friday-evening dress rehearsal through the Saturday student show and reception and fashion show in the evening. The classes’ images will be displayed on the Burchfield Penney’s big screen and Web site in the near future.
Detail
Seven Tenths Cloud; Bomber Diptych
2008; digitized 2008
Archival inkjet print
20 x 28 in.
Michael Johnson, associate professor, Modern and Classical Languages, read his paper “‘Soft Radiance’ and a ‘Foolish Heaping’: Images of Technology in The Time Machine” at “The Image of Technology in Literature, Media, and Society,” the 19th annual conference of the Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Social Imagery, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, March 12–14.
Timothy R. Ecklund, associate vice president for campus life, Student Affairs, has been appointed to a three-year term as a faculty fellow for the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA). The 12 faculty fellows provide direct policy input on such issues as quality assurance in student affairs, diversity, and graduate preparation; promote scholarship as part of the professional responsibility for all faculty and practitioners; and provide direction concerning NASPA research priorities and initiatives.
Lucy Andrus, professor, Art Education, delivered the keynote address on diversity and differentiated instruction at the third annual Arts Abilities Conference: Addressing the Needs of Diverse Learners in and through the Arts, sponsored by Young Audiences of Western New York, on May 1. Andrus also presented a workshop on integrating verbal, written, and visual literacy through art with students who have special learning needs. The Art Partners Program, which Andrus founded in 1994, and the Starlight Studio and Art Gallery of Buffalo were co-sponsors of this event that brought together educators, teaching artists in the fine and performing arts, administrators, parents, and other professionals who work with children and adults having a range of special learning needs, including disabilities, and those considered at-risk. Buffalo State art education majors and art therapy minors also attended the conference as part of their field experience in Andrus’s course ATS 325: Art for Children with Special Needs. Gayle Danley, internationally acclaimed slam poet, and Dale Davis, co-founder and executive director of the New York State Literary Center, were also featured presenters.
Aimable Twagilimana, professor, English, and coordinator, African and African American Studies Interdisciplinary Unit, was elected chair of the Association of African Studies Programs (AASP) for the April 2008–April 2009 period. The core of the organization consists of deans, directors, chairs, committee heads, or individuals who have the responsibility of organizing or leading African studies programs at their colleges and universities. The AASP holds its annual meeting in the spring at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C.
Allen Podet, professor, Philosophy and Humanities, has been invited to join the selection board for Fulbright awards. The board, which will meet in May in Washington, D.C., evaluates and selects Fulbright scholars and also universities and similar institutions applying for Fulbright support.
Melissa J. Miszkiewicz, director of academic computing, Computing and Technology Services, andBarbara J. Dray, assistant professor, Exceptional Education, in collaboration with Kelly Marczynski,assistant director and senior research scientist, andWilliam Wieczorek, director, Center for Health and Social Research, have developed a survey to assess student perceptions of their readiness to learn through online formats. During the initial development and under the guidance of Marczynski, Miszkiewicz and Dray worked together to conduct a cognitive item analysis of the survey whereby students provided feedback on the cognitive intent of each question. Dray and Miszkiewicz presented these initial findings at TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) in 2006, and AERA (American Educational Research Association) and Educause in 2007. Their work has been receiving both national and international recognition. They have been invited to present their work at the eighth annual Merlot International Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, August 7–10. Currently, they are conducting a large-scale validation study with students at Buffalo State College and hope to present preliminary findings at the August conference. Additionally, they are collaborating with el Grupo de Investigación de Tecnología Educativa, Departamento de Didáctica y Organización Escolar, at the Universidad de Murcia, in Spain, where the survey is being translated for use with its student population.