Zhang Jie, professor, Sociology, and director, Center for China Studies, was invited to deliver a keynote speech at the conference titled “The U.S. and China: Parallel Challenges in Health Care,” at University of Utah, in Salt Lake City, Utah, December 4–5. The title of his speech was “Prevalence and Etiology of Depression and Suicide among Chinese Populations.”
Julie Wieczkowski, assistant professor, Anthropology, presented an invited lecture, “Feeding Ecology of an Endangered African Monkey: The Tana River Mangabey of Kenya,” at the Center for Human Evolutionary Studies at Rutgers University on February 16. She has also been named co-director of Rutger’s Primatology, Wildlife Ecology, and Conservation Field School, held every August in Kenya.
Based on his prior service as a lead program reviewer for the ACTFL/NCATE Standards (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages/National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education), Mark K. Warfordwas recently named to the NCATE Board of Program Reviewers. The central purpose of the board is to provide consistent policies for program reviewers across all Specialized Professional Associations. The duration of the term is three years.
Vida Vanchan, assistant professor, and Stephen J. Vermette, professor, Geography and Planning, conducted a workshop in January on promoting geographic curriculum and education at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Their work was supported by a research incentive award from the Research Foundation.
Thomas C. Renzi, coordinator of tutorial services, Academic Skills Center, contributed a chapter to the bookModern and Postmodern Cutting-Edge Films (Anthony Hughes and Amanda Hughes, eds.), published in fall 2008. The chapter is titled “Modernizing the Enemy: Steven Spielberg Updates Wells’s The War of the Worldsto Reflect the Current Terrorist Threat.”
Gerald Nosich, professor, Philosophy and Humanities, delivered the following presentations at the International Academy on Critical Thinking, “The Oxford Tutorial and Critical Thinking,” at New College, University of Oxford, in Oxford, England, September 3–6: “A Framework for the Interrelationship of Critical Thinking and the Oxford Tutorial,” September 3; “A Demonstration Session Using Critical Thinking Concepts and Principles in Conducting a Tutorial” (with Rush Cosgrove), September 4; “A Commentary on Ted Tapper’s ‘Is Tutorial Teaching Possible in the Larger Group?’” September 4; “Pedagogical Implications: Thinking Within a Discipline,” September 4; “Linda Elder’s ‘Critical Insights from the Past: John Stuart Mill and John Henry Newman’: A Commentary,” September 5; “Three Events That Changed My Conception of Teaching and of Critical Thinking,” September 6; and “Bringing It All Together: Integrating the Oxford Tutorial and Critical Thinking” (with Rush Cosgrove, Linda Elder, Richard Paul, and Ted Tapper), September 6.
John Draeger, assistant professor, Philosophy and Humanities, presented “Respect Thy Neighbor” at the 105th annual meeting of the American Philosophical Association’s Eastern Division, held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, December 27–30.
Jane Cushman, assistant professor, Mathematics, attended the 13th annual Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE) in Orlando, Florida, February 5–7, where she conducted two sessions for affiliates of AMTE as the chair of the Affiliate Connections Committee. Cushman also received a plaque in recognition of her service to AMTE as the chair of the Affiliate Connections Committee.
Julian Cole, assistant professor, Philosophy and Humanities, presented “Untainted Dependency: An Answer to the Epistemological Challenges,” at Macalester College, in St. Paul, Minnesota, on October 30.
John Thompson, associate professor, Computer Information Systems, was awarded an Elluminate Research Grant by Elluminate in partnership with theSloan Consortium to use Elluminate vClass as part of an online education research project. Elluminate vClass is a Web-conferencing application that provides a virtual classroom that includes multiple functions, such as a shared/interactive whiteboard, voice and video, and full recording/archival capability. The grant will provide a free 50-person Elluminate vClass—approximately a $5,000 value—to use for research for the remainder of 2009.