Monday Memo, April 11, 2022

Dear A&S Faculty and Staff,

Welcome to Grawemeyer Week! Shortly after I joined UofL last December, Chair of the Political Science Department Tricia Gray said to me, “Grawemeyer Week is one of my favorite times of the year on campus.” I’m very excited to see what she means and to experience it for myself. On April 12–14, this year’s five winners will speak and perform, and I especially want to draw attention to the two categories with ties to A&S: Dr. Nicholaus Noles in the Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences oversees the selection process for the Psychology category, and Dr. Charles Ziegler in the Department of Political Science oversees the selection process for the World Order category.

The Grawemeyer Awards honor an idea rather than a particular achievement, an idea that is intelligible to the general public, and as most people know, each of the five winners receives an eye-popping monetary award. You can hear this year’s hundred-thousand-dollar ideas as follows:

  • Grawemeyer Award in World Order: Mona Lena Krook, a Rutgers University scholar, for analyzing the problem of violence against women in politics. Tuesday, April 12 at 1:00pm to 3:00pm, Ekstrom Library, Chao Auditorium, 2215 S. 3rd Street , Louisville, Kentucky 40208.
  • Grawemeyer Award in Psychology: Terrie Moffitt, a Duke University professor, for discovering two types of antisocial behavior in juveniles. Wednesday, April 13 at 12:00pm. Strickler Hall, Room 101 2010 S. Avery Court Walk.

Presentations by other winners in Education, Music, and Religion can be found on the UofL events page and on the flyer below.

Finally, come celebrate your colleagues at the A&S Celebration of Excellence on Tuesday, April 26, 2–4 p.m., in the University Club ballroom. All are welcome as we present A&S awards for faculty and staff. This event is the culmination of many hours of labor by nominators and selection committees. By attending this celebration, you are honoring their efforts as well as the outstanding work of the A&S award winners themselves. Light appetizers, beer, wine, and nonalcoholic beverages will be served. Please RSVP at https://forms.office.com/r/4mkB1SzQPR no later than Monday, April 18.

Sincerely,

Julie Wrinn, Chief of Staff

Recruitment

UofL Health has announced that it will provide free tuition to its part-time and full-time employees who choose to attend the University of Louisville, as well as employees’ dependents, spouses, domestic partnerships, and children up to age 26. Admissions is hosting an event on Monday, April 18, 5:00–7:30 pm, in the College of Business atrium to introduce UofL Health employees to our academic programs. This event may be especially interesting to programs that invite adult learners to complete degrees online (or in-person), to attain certificates, or learn new skills. If you are interested in attending the event and advertising your programs at a table or otherwise, please respond by Tuesday, April 12, at https://forms.office.com/r/yVyFt1hjty.

Opportunities for Students

Faculty and staff are asked to circulate these opportunities to students in your classes and units.

The UofL Women’s Center is offering scholarships for undergraduates ranging from $500 to $11,000. April 22 is the deadline. Application and guidelines. Questions may be directed to Phyllis M. Webb, womenctr@louisville.edu or 502-852-7715.

The Anne Braden Institute is now accepting submissions for the 2022 Social Justice Research Paper Awards, accessed here and due by Monday, April 25, 11:59 pm. Please encourage your undergraduate and graduate students to submit papers! Award amounts up to $500.

Pre-med students are invited to apply for the Medical Education Research Award (MERA)

  • $500 to conduct research in medical education and learn clinical skills.
  • For undergraduates with a major in A&S, juniors and seniors preferred, 3.0 GPA
  • Application online: http://louisville.edu/artsandsciences/academics/undergraduate/mera
  • Due Monday, April 25th by 8:00 am
  • Research is May to August with a poster presentation on summer research day

Kudos

Congratulations to Asma Addarrat-Edwards, A&S Director of Development, who was recently announced as a winner of the university-wide Cardinal Principles Champion for Accountability. Those of us who are Asma’s colleagues know how well-deserved this award is!

ACC Meeting of the Minds

Kudos to the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, and Psychology and Brain Sciences who sent students to present at the 16th annual ACC Meeting of the Minds, hosted by the University of Virginia, celebrating undergraduate research and creative inquiry by member institutions of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education and Professor of Biology Linda Fuselier accompanied these star undergraduate researchers (pictured left to right, below), who presented as follows:

  • Julia Corman, majoring in neuroscience, presented a poster on “Breadth of Cancer Patient Humoral Response to SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein and RBD Variants.”
  • Savannah Quach, majoring in psychology, gave a talk on “Children know that inclusivity is fair, but they expect unfair treatment towards minoritized groups.”
  • Mustafa Almosawi, majoring in biology, gave a talk on “Challenges in blood preservation: addressing hemoglobin oxidation caused by lyophilization of red blood cells.”
  • Betty Ngo, majoring in biology and psychology, presented a poster on “Exploring Standardized Patients' Nonverbal Responses Toward LGBTQ Microaggressions.”
  • Afi Tagnedji, majoring in biochemistry, presented a poster on “The Effects of N-acetyltransferase 1 Gene Knockout on the Cytotoxicity of Pyrimidine Biosynthesis Inhibitors in Human Breast Cancer Cells.”

Congratulations to Professor of Spanish Rhonda Dahl Buchanan on the publication of her English translation of the Argentine writer Tununa Mercado’s novel, Canon de alcoba, as Chamber Canon by Literal Publishing in February 2021. Of this work, independent scholar and translator Suzanne Jill Levine said, “Argentina has produced yet another great writer. In this intriguing ‘bedroom canon’ deftly translated by Rhonda Dahl Buchanan, the unique Tununa Mercado once again inscribes the feminine with perspectives that defy genre just as her language marks the subversive differences of gender.”

On April 2, Professor Cristina Carbone took her Interior Design colleagues and students to the “Mecca of Modernism,” Columbus, Indiana for a private tour of Eero Saarinen’s Miller House and a walking tour focusing on Modernist interiors such as Eliel Saarinen's First Christian Church. Hite Interior Design students are pictured below at a new mural inspired by IM Pei’s seating plan for the Cleo Rogers Memorial Library.

Kudos to Emily Spicer, an undergraduate student of Physics and Astronomy, for earning a Fulbright Fellowship to conduct research on exoplanets at the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague and the Ondrejov Observatory in the Czech Republic. A terrific opportunity in an amazing city!

Applause for fruitful interdisciplinarity! Art students collaborated with engineering students to create an exhibit through the Airborne Systems & Aesthetics course taught by Assistant Professor Sam Swope of the Hite Institute. Based on the Farsi word Hamdam (همدم), “the one you breathe with,” the performative piece reflected on the relationship between technology and the air we breathe as humans, while applying engineering principles to support the artists’ vision. It took place on April 2 in the Hite Institute’s MFA building at 1606 Rowan Street in the Portland neighborhood. Hite's Program Coordinator Sr. Sara Noori is a student in the class and participated in the performance.

U.S. News and World Report recently issued its rankings of America’s Best Graduate Schools for 2023. Congratulations to the following A&S programs, all of which have been ranked in recent years and are continuing to excel:

Anti-Racism Agenda

Events

On Thursday, 4/14 at 2:30, please join us for a lecture by Watson Distinguished Visiting Professor Beverly Moss, speaking on "We’re all Sistas": Phenomenal Women, Community Literacies, and Sponsoring Belonging. This presentation will focus on decade-long community literacy research relationship with a Black women’s club in Columbus, Ohio, specifically how the Phenomenal Women Incorporated (PWI) extends Brandt’s notion of literacy sponsorship for themselves and the community of Black women. Thursday, April 14, 2:30–4 pm, Bingham Humanities Building 101, or connect via MS Teams: Click here to join the meeting. Or call in 1-502-792-9582, Phone Conference ID: 480 587 447.

MFA candidate Erica Lewis, winner of the Virginia “Jenny” Madden Award for Graduate Student Leadership and Service, will be presenting her thesis exhibition, “It’s All Fun And—A Rhetorical Analysis of Space in the Pandemic” at the Hite Institute’s MFA building at 1606 Rowan Street, with an opening reception on April 15, 5–9 pm. We hope to see you there!