Monday Memo January 22, 2018

Dean's Message

Dear Colleagues:

Given the confluence of bad weather, a holiday, and the flu outbreak, the semester has gotten off to a slow start for many, including me. I hope that clear skies and healthier times sustain us now through the rest of the school year.

I’m delighted to report that we have forwarded recommendations to the Provost in support of tenure and promotions for  27 faculty in the college. This fall’s candidates were uniformly very accomplished scholars and the decisions were easy. The research and creative achievements across this group of faculty provide convincing evidence of impact in the profession, and advancement for the region and the country. I do continue to hope that we will document better our faculty expertise in teaching. I know we have many outstanding teachers in our college, but information in dossiers routinely only capture enough to show a level of proficiency. I look forward to the recommendations from the committees that are working on this topic. Please also vote ASAP so the Assembly’s new ad hoc committee can get to work investigating whether creating tenure-track positions focused mostly on teaching is a desirable direction for us to pursue.

A special shout out today to two of our faculty and their recently published books, both of which I strongly recommend. First, Lee Dugatkin’s How to Tame a Fox {and Build a Dog} has just won the 2018 AAAS/Subaru prize for “Excellence in Science Books” in the Young Adult category. Chosen from among a very competitive field, it is the first time that a book has been the unanimous choice of all judges for this prestigious award. Lee and his co-author, Lyudmilla Trut will be honored at a ceremony next month. This “beautifully written-book that reads like a hard-to-put-down novel” also was selected by Forbes Magazine as a top 10 best science book for 2017 and recommended as the #1 holiday read by the Nature Conservancy. Second, Kiki Petrosino’s Witch Wife already has a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly and was named a “must read poetry” pick by The Millions, a high profile magazine on books and the creative arts. Tomorrow night, the Louisville Ballet will premiere an original piece of poetry and dance. (See the article in Louisville Magazine.) You might also have seen that her poetry was quoted near the end of this wonderful opinion piece in The New York Times. 

These 29 faculty are merely the most recent reminders of the considerable expertise we have in Arts & Sciences. Our scholarly accomplishments help UofL maintain the prestigious Research I Carnegie classification and draw high achieving students to our campus.

Finally, I hope you’ll mark your calendars and plan to attend this year’s Phi Beta Kappa lecture on Feb. 6 which will be delivered by the Honorable Matthew Barzun, former Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Sweden. This annual lecture highlights the important advocacy role the Phi Beta Kappa Association plays for the arts and sciences. Additionally, this year’s lecture topic -- "Our Separate Worlds: Where Do We Go From Here? (Hint: More Humanities)" -- will underscore the importance of the liberal arts to a healthy society. I think all of us who study, teach, and do research in the liberal arts could use an affirming message right about now! Please come and encourage your colleagues and students to attend as well. We’re also hosting a lovely reception afterwards, so it would be helpful to have registration numbers for planning food and beverages. For more information and/or to pre-register, go to uofl.me/as-pbklecture2018.  

Thanks for all you do. Keep up the good work, and stay healthy!

Sincerely,

Kimberly Kempf-Leonard
Dean

Announcements

Call for A&S Faculty and Staff Awards

Please take the time to nominate your faculty and staff colleagues for a 2017-18 A&S award.  There are more than 12 categories in which to nominate. Awards will be given at the College’s Celebration of A&S Excellence on April 13, 2018 in Bigelow Hall. Submission deadline: Feb. 16, 2018. For awards criteria and to nominate, visit louisville.edu/artsandsciences/awards/nominations.

Nominate outstanding students to be Peer Advisors!

Arts & Sciences Advising is recruiting Peer Advisors for the 2018-2019 academic year.  Do you know a student who would make a great mentor for incoming students?  Consider nominating them for this important role. Nominate here.

Lab Safety and Hazardous Waste Training

New lab employees who work with chemicals should attend this training. Recurrent training is required every three years and may be completed online. Bring laptop computer. January 25, 9-10:30 a.m., Room W104, Ekstrom Library, Belknap Campus. Attendees can pre-register online. Additional information: Rachel Cary, 852-3558

A&S Faculty Assembly will not meet next Friday, January 26

The next meeting of the A&S Faculty Assembly will be February 23. Agenda items are due to chairperson Karen Christopher by February 16. Also, you will receive the ballot with candidates for the Tenure-Track Teaching Positions Committee created in the last two Assembly meetings. Once you receive the ballot, please vote promptly.

Research & Creative Activity

Grant.gov changes in 2018

Faculty who use legacy downloadable grant applications from Grants.gov will find changes in 2018. Grants.gov will no longer allow grant seekers to download an entire application form package for later submission. Grant seekers will need to switch to another grant application option, such as Grants.gov Workspace by registering as an “Organization Applicant” using UofL’s (corrected) DUNS number: 057588857. Additional Information: Website.

Attestation and Disclosure Form (ADF) notifications from iRIS

Automatic renewals for completing the ADF will be phased in during Spring/Summer 2018. Notifications emails will be distributed from the iRIS system to ALL employees, advising on their ADF completion requirements. Please add irismail@louisville.edu to your safe list or check your junk mail folder to ensure you do not miss important notifications. For a list of the disclosing populations at UofL and/or additional information on the ADF, visit the conflict of interest website. Additional information: Contact coi@louisville.edu or 852-7612, or visit online louisville.edu/conflictofinterest.

A&S research funding opportunities 

Olorunsola Award for full-time, tenure-track assistant professors in A&S
A&S is soliciting applications for the Victor Olorunsola Endowed Research Award, which is awarded to faculty in their first four years of teaching. One award of $2,000 will be made this year. The deadline for applications is March 9, 2018. Guidelines and additional information.

A&S Research and Creative Activity Grant for Tenured or Tenure-track Faculty
A&S announces funding opportunities to promote research and creative activities of faculty members with the purpose of increasing the extramural research funding, and the number of scholarly publications, refereed exhibits, and artistic performances of the college. The deadline for submissions is March 9, 2018. Guidelines and proposal template.

A&S Research and Creative Activity Grant for Graduate Students
A&S announces funding opportunities to promote research and creative activities of Graduate Students with the purpose of increasing the extramural research funding, the number of scholarly publications, refereed exhibits, and artistic performances of the college. The deadline for submissions is 4:00 PM on March 23, 2018. Guidelines and proposal template.

2018 (Spring) Internal Grants Program deadline is March 27
The call for proposals for the EVPRI Internal Grants Program is reinitiated and the EVPRI will be accepting applications for Spring 2018 review.  The Internal Grants Program (Research I, Research II and Undergraduate Research Grants) aims to assist faculty and students in new highly productive research projects.  All grant categories are open to full-time faculty, including full time faculty who mentor students for the Undergraduate Research Grants projects. Information and applications forms

Teaching

Bridging the divide via teaching and technology

In December, Political Science visiting Fulbright Scholar, Andrei Golobokov, set up a video bridge with students and faculty from the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok, Russia and students from Prof. Charles Ziegler's (Political Science) "Russia and Eurasia" Honors class. They discussed the troubled state of US-Russian relations, and the interests of students from both countries (culture, education, etc). 

Kudos

PhD candidate receives Dream Award

Khirsten Echols, PhD candidate in English/Rhetoric and Composition, received a 2018 Scholars for the Dream Award from the Conference on College Composition and Communication. The $1,000 award celebrates the scholarly achievement of graduate students from traditionally underrepresented groups.

Almousily wins US President's Volunteer Service Award, again

Khaldoun Almousily (Classical & Modern Languages) has served as program coordinator and instructor of Arabic language and culture for Louisville Metro Police Department since 2016. He was awarded the United States President’s Volunteer Service Award for 2016 for doing 125 hours of volunteer work with Louisville Metro Police Department, and will be awarded the Award for 2017 soon for his 156-hour volunteer work with the LMPD.

In the News

STAFFPICKS: ‘James Grubola: The Friday 
(and Thursday) Sessions’ (LEO Weekly) - Highlights the art exhibit of pieces resulting from recent weekly drawing sessions of Prof. James Grubola (Fine Arts). 

STAFFPICKS: ‘Inside And Outside
 Of Gallery Space —
Creating Visual Narratives’
(LEO Weekly) - Highlights the presentation of Prof. Mary Carothers (Fine Arts) at the lunch and learn series, Meet the Professor. 

Here's why a Hollywood actor and screenwriter moved their family to Goshen, Kentucky (Courier-Journal, 1/19/18) - Discusses move of Hollywood couple from LA to Louisville area. Screenwriter and A&S alumna (Biology) Kara Holden is teaching screenwriting for the Film Studies program. 

UofL art professor James Grubola returns to drawing dancers, figures after 17 years (Insider Louisville, 1/18/18)

Academic background desired in next U of L President (The Louisville Cardinal, 1/18/18) - Prof. Avery Kolers (Philosophy), Prof. William Cunningham (Communication), Andrew Grubb (Honors), and A&S graduate student Ashley Assgari weighed in on what qualifications the next president of UofL should have.

Dance meets poetry at the Louisville Ballet (Louisville Magazine, 1/16/18) - Prof. Kiki Petrosino collaborates with choreographer and dancers at the Louisville Ballet to create poetic dance performance. 

UofL’s new Theatre Arts Department chair talks about the future (Insider Louisville, 1/16/18) - Prof. Kevin Gawley (Theatre Arts) talks about department's direction under his leadership as the new chair. 

White racial resentment has been gaining political power for decades (Washington Post, 1/15/18) -- Prof. Adam Enders (Political Science) had some of his research -- on political behavior and white racial resentment -- published.

Kentucky leaders on course to create 'dumberer' citizens through education cuts (Courier-Journal, 1/10/18) - Opinion piece by Prof. Ricky Jones (Pan-African Studies).