Monday Memo December 4, 2017

Dean's Message

Dear Colleagues,

As the semester winds down and winter approaches, I hope you’ll join me in thinking about those who are less fortunate. If anyone would like bring in food for the Dare to Care food bank, you can drop it off in Gardiner Hall collection boxes until 12/14. If you would prefer to make a cash donation, you can do that on their website. The organization is able to provide 100 meals to those in need with every $25 donation.  

It is with sadness that I share the news that Shari Gater, beloved Administrative Associate in Comparative Humanities, passed away this weekend after a lengthy illness. She will be greatly missed. Visitation will be at Arch L. Heady Funeral Home on Westport Road, Wednesday, December 6 from 4-8pm. The funeral service will take place at the funeral home, Thursday, December 7 at 10:00am, followed by a procession to Resthaven Cemetery.

On a happier note, I hope many of you will join our students at Commencement on Friday, December 15 at the Yum! Center. It is great fun to share in their success and a good way to greet our new alumni. I am particularly lucky this year as I will get to enjoy the commencements of both our Belknap students and our QLU students in Panama. 

Finally, please be thinking about all your terrific faculty and staff colleagues who deserve recognition. Upon our return in January, it will be time for A&S award nominations. We want to make our annual A&S Celebration of Excellence in April the best ever! (Please mark your calendars for the afternoon of Friday, April 13 so that you’ll be free to attend.)

Best wishes to you for a smooth end of the semester. 

Kimberly Kempf-Leonard, Ph.D.
Dean

Announcements

Upload course content early for Spring 2018: Blackboard will be offline January 5-7 for a scheduled upgrade
In order to accommodate the university’s Winter Session, the Blackboard upgrade is moving. Blackboard upgrade will start on Friday, January 5 at 6PM and run through Sunday, January 7 at 8PM and will be unavailable during that time. Applications integrated with Blackboard will also be unavailable, such as Panopto and Collaborate. Questions? Visit louisville.edu/delphi/blackboard or call 502.852.8833.
 

A&S collecting for Dare to Care
The College of Arts and Sciences is collecting for Dare to Care, Monday, 12/4 thru Thursday, 12/14. Collection boxes are located in the A&S Dean’s Office on the 2nd floor of Gardiner Hall. Donations will be delivered to Dare to Care on Friday, December 15 at 12PM. If you are able to help deliver the donations are are willing to collect food donations in your office, please email Jackie Gutterman or call her at 852-2234.

NOTE: The 10 most needed items are peanut butter, soup, canned fruit, beans, rice, tuna, cereal, fruit juice, pasta, and canned vegetables. You can also support Dare to Care with a cash donation. They can provide 100 meals for every $25 you give. Donate now.

Research & Creative Activity

Cooperative Consortium for Transdisciplinary Social Justice Research 2018 Call for Proposals
Social justice transdisciplinary research stretches past traditional academic multi-disciplinarity or inter-professionalism to foster collaborations across disciplines, colleges, and even beyond academia. The goal is to develop processes for identifying new solutions to complex, intransigent social problems. More information on the Consortium’s definitions. Applications are due December 18. Visit the website for more information on the proposal.

Diversity & Inclusivity

Exhibit: "Fighting to be Heard: The Continuing Battle for Inclusion at UofL"
Students in HIST 597/697, Introduction to Public History, announce the opening of an exhibit titled "Fighting to be Heard: The Continuing Battle for Inclusion at UofL." The exhibit will cover civil rights activism at UofL, from the founding of the Louisville Municipal College through the 1969 Black Student Union sit-ins and the establishment of the Pan-African Studies department. The exhibit will be open from Dec 4 - 18 on the first floor of Ekstrom Library across from the circulation desk.

Kudos

Anthropology MA student Mallory Cox wins fellowship at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Mallory Cox, who is currently working toward her MA in the Department of Anthropology, has just received news that she has been selected to receive a short-term fellowship at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. Mallory's innovative research into the detection of malarial biomarkers in archaeological skeletal remains has caught the eye of scholars at Yale, and now, in Panama. Mallory will depart this summer for three fully-funded months of research and experimentation at STRI.
 

Memories by Prof. Moonhe Baik (Fine Arts), an exhibit at Asia Institute Crane House
Visit their first floor galleries and see examples of the use of hanji as an artistic medium. This experimental series of work was created entirely with Korean handmade papers called hanji and incorporates reflections of both the artist’s birthplace, Seoul, South Korea, and her current home, Louisville, KY.
 

Congratulations to the 3 Public Anthropology Award winners in Prof. Amy Mortensen's (Anthropology) class
Students Nicholas Fisher, Shirin Salari, and Cody Peak participated in a North American competition while in their Intro to Cultural Anthropology class. Based on five case studies, the students were ask to present their views on how Institutional Review Boards (in the U.S.) and/or Review Ethics Boards (in Canada) and their oversight of research. The competition involved over 3,500 students from 24 schools. See their award winning opinion pieces.
 

McDonald's "A Threshold Is an Opening" published by LA Review of Books
An essay titled "A Threshold Is an Opening," co-authored by Prof. Frances McDonald (English), published on the Los Angeles Review of Books website.

In the News

Filson Historical Society panel will look at the past, present and future of black artists in Louisville (Insider Louisville, 12/3/17) - About upcoming panel discussion, (Thursday, 12/7) “From the Brown Derby to the Speed: A Panel on African-American Arts in Louisville” at the Filson Historical Society. Artists on the panel will include Prof. Emeritus Bob Douglas (Pan-African Studies), Sam Gilliam (A&S alumnus and member of the A&S Hall of Honor), and William Duffy. Panel discussion facilitated by Prof. Che Rhodes (Fine Arts).  

Professor wins 2018 Grawemeyer Award for Psychology for idea of ‘successful intelligence’ (Insider Louisville, 12/2/17) - Prof. Woody Petry (Psychological & Brain Sciences) comments on significance of the work of this year's winner of the Grawemeyer Award for Psychology, Prof. Robert Sternberg (Cornell University).

Google Fiber taps UofL alums for design work (UofL Today, 11/30/17) - Two alumnae of Hite Art Institute’s graphic design program tapped to help with Google Fiber roll out.The company tapped Ashley Trommler, who graduated in 2011, to design the graphics for its installer vans. They also commissioned Carrie Donovan, class of 2016, to design a building mural in Portland, one of the first neighborhoods to receive the service.  
 
Cardinal players pick classroom MVPs: A Q&A with women's basketball players and their favorite faculty members (UofL Today, 11/30/17) - Features Prof. Ralph Merkel (Communication) selected and profiled as the favorite faculty member of student Sam Fuehring, junior forward of UofL's women's basketball team.

Senators talk Madison County, transportation and pension at Republican Caucus retreat (11/29/17, Richmond Register) - References the Kentucky Data Center providing current population statistics and population projections for Madison County. 

U of L professor says social media is fueling sexual assault accusations against high-profile men (WDRB, 11/29/17) – Prof. Karen Freberg (Communication) on how social media is helping women who are victims of sexual assault to come forward. 

Professor wins 2018 UofL Grawemeyer Award for genocide research (Insider Louisville, 11/29/17) – Prof. Charles Ziegler (Political Science) comments on the recently named 2018 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order winner, Prof. Scott Straus (Univerisity of Wisconsin-Madison). Prof. Straus won the award for his work researching genocide. 

U of L faculty offended by 'spit in your face' approach in presidential search (Courier-Journal, 11/29) – Prof. Ricky Jones (Pan-African Studies) on the UofL Board of Trustees closed presidential search.

Prof. Dowling on Science Friday with Ira Flatow (Science Friday, 11/25/17) – Prof. Tim Dowling (Physics & Astronomy) on icy giants Uranus and Neptune. 

University of Louisville board chairman committed to 'closed' search for next president (WDRB, 11/20/17) – Prof. Susan Jarosi (Women's & Gender Studies) weighs in on the closed search for the next UofL president.