Monday Memo, April 19, 2021
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Yarmuth to deliver annual Phi Beta Kappa Lecture on 4/22 at 6:30 p.m.
In this talk, Congressman Yarmuth will share about the role the liberal arts have played in his life path. He will also talk about what he views as the liberal arts' past and present critical role in a democracy and civil society.
Congressman John Yarmuth represents Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Now in his seventh term, he was elected Chairman of the House Budget Committee for the 116th Congress. He has been recognized for his work to improve education, expand access to affordable health care, and revitalize manufacturing in Louisville.
Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Congressman Yarmuth graduated from Atherton High School and Yale University. He and his wife, Cathy, have one son, Aaron, who is owner and editor of LEO Weekly.
The talk is free and open to the public via Zoom but registration required.
Call for Applications for Director of the Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research
The dean invites applications for the new ABI director, to begin July 1, 2021. The ABI Director will serve a three-year term with the possibility of renewal.
The ideal candidate must possess a strongly honed intersectional social justice framework that centers racial justice. This person will be responsible for directing all aspects of ABI research, communications, and program/project development, implementation and evaluation, as well as fulfilling the demands of a tenured professorship with a reduced teaching load in A&S.
Reporting directly to the A&S Associate Dean for Diversity, Engagement, Culture and Climate (DECC), the ABI Director operates to the extent possible on a consultative model of leadership within most aspects of Institute’s operations and decision-making, but the Director has the authority to make various independent decisions as needed. The Director also works in consultation with the ABI Community Advisory Council, the ABI Faculty Affiliates group and serves on the A&S Community Engagement Advisory Council (CEAC).
Directorship requires extensive multi-tasking and assumes a deep grounding in U.S. social justice movement scholarship and commitment to racial justice, as evidenced by a Ph.D. and a significant publication and community engagement record in a field related to the ABI mission and purpose.
Terms of appointment: 2 course releases per academic year; 1/9 salary supplement on base.
Please send a CV and letter of interest to Susan Ryan by May 4, 2021.
ANTI-RACISM IN A&S
"Microresistance as a Way to Respond to Microaggressions in Zoom and in Real Life," coauthored by Prof. Cynthia Ganote (Sociology)
Someone speaks over you. The chair consistently overlooks your raised hand. A colleague takes credit for an idea that someone else articulated just moments ago. Misgendering. Mispronunciation of names. Tokenizing, dismissive, and even toxic behaviors. Derald Wing Sue defines these as microaggressions, "brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral and environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults to the target person or group."
Prof. Chris Reitz (Fine Arts) introduces his students to the intersection between art and activism
Credit: WHAS11
Prof. Chris Reitz’s (Fine Arts) "Art and Activism" seminar is involved with the “Promise, Witness, Remembrance” exhibit at the Speed Museum. This exhibit reflects on the life of Breonna Taylor and the resulting protests around Louisville and the world.
The students are producing a short timeline of art and activism since the 1970s and writing an introductory text for the portrait of Breonna Taylor that was central to the protests this summer. The portrait by Aron Conaway, though technically not part of the major exhibit which features only artists of color, hangs beside the show as a meditation on the role of art in activist politics.
The student project should open 4/26. All UofL faculty and staff get free admission to the Speed Art Museum.
HR & OPERATIONS
Annual Leave Carryover
Annual leave carryover is based on the calendar year, January 1 to December 31. The policy is below, along with the link to accrual rates. Leave Accrual Rates for Staff
PER-4.04: Annual leave may be accumulated up to three times the amount which the employee is currently eligible to accrue during a 12-month period; provided, however, that the maximum leave balance shall be two times the amount which the employee is currently eligible to accrue upon (1) carry forward from January 1 to December 31 each year, (2) transfer from one department to another department (unless the hiring department accepts the transfer of additional leave), and (3) payment upon separation from employment.
Email MaryPat Chiavaroli with questions or call her at 502.852.2244.
COVID-19 updates
Testing and travel
While testing is not required in April, Bluewater Lab will continue hosting testing locations on campus so university members can maintain easy access to COVID-19 tests. We encourage university members to get tested regularly - especially if taking part in high-risk activities such as attending social gatherings with limited space and traveling.
Get vaccinated and share UofL Health's registration link with friends and family
The COVID-19 vaccine is strongly encouraged. Do your part to meet the governor's Team Kentucky Vaccination Challenge. Get vaccinated to save lives and fully reopen activities, events and businesses. You, your friends and your family can use the link above to get registered for a vaccination appointment at Cardinal Stadium with UofL Health. To speak with someone about the vaccine, call the UofL Hospital COVID vaccine line at 502-588-7004.
Remember to report your travel
If you plan to travel, remember to first research your destination's positivity rate. If you travel to a place with a positivity rate of 10% or higher, you must report your travel to Campus Health. Our contact tracers will reach out to any university members who need to quarantine.
KUDOS
A&S Junior Lexi Raikes is Kentucky’s only 2021 Truman Scholar
Lexi Raikes will graduate from UofL in May 2022 with a triple major in English, French and political science. She is executive vice president of the UofL Student Government Association, member of the Engage Lead Serve Board and an intern for the Salzburg Global Seminar American Studies Program. She is also involved in UofL’s raiseRED student fundraiser for pediatric cancer and blood disease research.
Prof. Paul Griner's new book out to outstanding reviews
The latest novel by Prof. Paul Griner (English), The Book of Otto and Liam, is just out from Sarabande and is a Booklist, "Best New Books for the Week of April 13, 2021."
Liam is the boy, lying in the hospital, in grave condition, a bullet lodged in his head. Otto is his father, a commercial artist whose marriage has collapsed in the wake of the disaster. Paul Griner’s brave novel taps directly into the vein of a uniquely American tragedy: the school shooting. We know these grotesque and sorrowful events too well. Thankfully, the characters in this drama are finely drawn human beings—those who gain our empathy, those who commit the unspeakable acts, and those conspiracy fanatics who launch a concerted campaign to convince the world that the shooting was a hoax. The Book of Otto and Liam is a suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat read and, at the same time, it is a meditation on the forms evil can take, from the irredeemable act of the shooter himself, to the anger and devastation it causes in the victims’ families. Griner has managed to make an amazing, incredibly powerful book, one that is like no other.
Congrats to Prof. Sarah Strickley (English) on two counts!
Prof. Strickley will be the featured editor at this year's (online) Boldface conference for emerging writers (hosted by the University of Houston and Glass Mountain). Sarah will be representing Miracle Monocle during a panel discussion and a solo presentation.
Additionally, Prof. Strickley also recently published an essay in Watershed Review titled "Aquarium: Container of Shame."
Prof. John Hale gives the world another "Great Course"
John R. Hale (Anthropology), director of liberal studies, has presented an on-demand 24-program video course, “The Great Tours: Greece and Turkey, from Athens to Istanbul,” for the Great Courses Company, a business that identifies the top 1% of university professors and subject matter experts in the United States. Professor Hale teaches introductory courses on archaeology, as well as more specialized courses on the Bronze Age, the ancient Greeks and more.
Shout out to Prof. Brian Barnes for critical thinking podcast
Shout out to Prof. Brian Barnes (Philosophy), who along with cohost Patty Payette of the Delphi Center for Teaching & Learning, has volunteered his time every week since November 2017 to produce a one-hour radio show and podcast, “Critical thinking for everyone.” The radio show is aired on Forward Radio WFMP 106.5 FM. Payette and Barnes are critical thinking scholars whose goal is to bring intellectual tools to the masses.
