Monday Memo, March 13, 2023
Dear A&S Faculty and Staff,
Did you know that A&S staff have their own book club? It was launched in summer 2021 and currently consists of seven staff members who meet on a monthly basis. All are invited to participate in lunchtime meetings to discuss a wide variety of genres, including graphic novels, essays, letters, and biographies. The group’s past selections have been incredibly eclectic, from classics like Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls to Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood; from genre fiction like Ghost Summer Stories by Tananarive Due to Pulitzer-Prize-winning literary fiction like A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan; to nonfiction like Patti Smith’s Just Kids and Emily Bingham’s My Old Kentucky Home: The Astonishing Life and Reckoning of an Iconic American Song. Future selections promise to be just as varied and wonderful! The group will meet again on Tuesday, April 11, to discuss The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks. If you’re interested in joining, please email Janna Tajibaeva at janna.tajibaeva@louisville.edu.
Sincerely,
Julie Wrinn, Chief of Staff
Research & Creative Activity
Above: A still from the visual test of Land Lord, a feature-length film under way by Communication professor Remington Smith.
Remington Smith, Associate Professor of Film and Film production, Department of Communication, received $20,000 in matching funds from Render Capital for his feature film, Land Lord. The film shoots in summer 2023 and includes former film production students, with all internships paid.
In the horror/social thriller genre, the film's premise is: If vampires can't come into your house without being invited, what happens if a vampire owns your housing? Land Lord is a fresh take on vampires that draws on the filmmaker’s experiences growing up poor in apartment complexes like the one in the movie, pictured above. To learn more about the project, visit wefunder.com/landlord.
Undergraduate Research
In the Feb. 27 edition we shared project titles of the 7 A&S undergraduate researchers who were chosen from the UofL-wide competition, including majors in biology, Rural Health Policy (Liberal Studies), neurobiology, neuroscience, political science, and Psychology and Intersectional Health Studies (Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies). Pictured above are those A&S students with other UofL participants and Paul DeMarco, Ph.D., Professor and Interim Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity. Congrats again to these students and their faculty mentors. L's Up!
Alumna Spotlight
Nubia Bennett (B.A. Communication 2010, M.Ed. 2016) is the featured guest on Episode 11 of the Employee Success podcast with Brian Buford, "Finding Pleasure in Work." Bennett talks about how pleasure can be the compass that helps you do work you love, work that aligns with who you are. As host of the podcast “Sprinkle Sparkle,” Bennett has spent the last few years engaged in a deep study of pleasure, and in this episode, Bennett and Buford look at the places where work and pleasure intersect, especially for people with marginalized identities. Bennett is DEI and Leadership Development Manager for Leadership Louisville, and Buford is Director of the UofL Employee Succcess Center. For more information or to listen, visit the webpage.
In Memoriam
Above: Doug Schutte (1975-2023) at the Bard's Town, photo by Ron Jasin for LEO
A leading figure in the Louisville theater community, Douglas Schutte (M.A. English 2001) passed away on Feb. 23 at the age of 47. His obituary notes that he was a teacher, football coach, and theater director at St. Xavier High School; former Treadwell Fellow at Shakespeare's Globe in London; former Executive Director of the Kentucky Theatre Association; and an accomplished writer and director as owner of the Bard’s Town Theatre & Restaurant, where notable works included The Kings of Christmas, Chasing Ophelia, the annual “Ten-Tucky” festival, and his one-man show, It’s (Still) a Wonderful Life.
A highlight among the many remembrances of Schutte was by Marty Rosen in LEO, who had previously reviewed Schutte’s work as a playwright, performer, director, and producer. Rosen writes, “If you use social media, you will find scores of tributes to Doug from people who knew him as a football coach and teacher, and through his long multi-faceted career in theater. Those tributes are both sorrowful and inspiring, and more than anything else they confirm the extraordinary impact Doug and the Bard’s Town had on inventing Louisville’s theater scene as it exists today.”
Summer Research for Undergrads
Please encourage your undergraduates to apply for SROP!
A point of pride is UofL’s substantial investment in summer research experiences for undergraduates, setting us apart from other regional and benchmark universities. The Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP) provides undergraduate students with an intensive 10-week, 35-hour-per-week research experience with a faculty member in any discipline. This year, the SROP will run from May 30 to Aug. 4. Students will receive a stipend of $3,500 for the 10 weeks, and faculty mentors will receive $500 to support the student's scholarly activities. The deadline to submit applications is March 13 (today!) . For more information, visit the webpage or email Paul DeMarco.
Hidden Talents
Above: Chad with Clara, who keeps watch over their Old Louisville neighborhood.
Even before he was helping his colleagues in Gottschalk Hall deal with the aftermath of a recent low-grade fire that filled the building with smoke, Chad White had won the 2023 A&S Award for Outstanding Performance. His efforts on March 7 to evacuate the students and faculty, alert the authorities, and quickly relocate classes to avoid further interruption in learning only reinforced how deserving he is of this award!
A native of Connecticut, Chad first came to Kentucky when stationed in the Army at Fort Knox. He ended up serving for 12 years as a U.S. Army Counterintelligence Agent, including a deployment to Iraq, where he directed a Tactical Human Intelligence Team. For many years he ran a Field Office for intelligence gathering in the States, including as part of the Joint Terrorism Task Force with the FBI.
After leaving the service, Chad entered college to pursue a B.A. in History at UofL. Now a denizen of Old Louisville, Chad and his husband are renovating a 130-year-old house in that historic neighborhood. “We finished the new kitchen last year and just finished the powder room and pantry a couple of weeks ago. During Spring Break we will start demo and construction on the sun room for the dogs,” he explained.
Some military habits persist: “I usually try to take my lunch break at the University gym to lift weights,” he admits. After doing some of his graduate work at the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of York in England, Chad transferred to UofL, and this semester he expects to earn his M.A. in History. In August he'll begin a Ph.D. in Comparative Humanities. “I study the reception of medieval history and how it is used and misused by bad-faith actors like white nationalists,” he said. But for the favorite piece of advice he’s ever received, Chad reaches all the way back to Publilius Syrus, from the 1st century BCE, who said, "Vincit qui se vincit," or “He conquers who conquers himself.”
Many thanks to Chad for sharing these facets of his life. If you would like to reveal some of your extracurricular side in this newsletter, please get in touch with julie.wrinn@louisville.edu.
Below: Chad White at a York University (England) panel discussion of medieval history.
Newsletters Galore!
It’s hard for the Monday Memo to keep up with all the great work being showcased in our College’s various newsletters. If you have a particular interest in any of the following areas, please consider subscribing.
Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research: view a recent edition here. Subscribe here.
Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Faculty and Staff Association: subscribe here.
The Department of Geographic and Environmental Sciences publishes two newsletters per year on the ArcGIS StoryMaps platform. Their spring 2023 edition is here. Subscribe by emailing your request to geoinfo@louisville.edu.
The Department of Urban and Public Affairs issues a weekly e-newsletter that includes job postings at the end. Anyone can subscribe by emailing upa@louisville.edu.
If you would like your newsletter to be promoted in the Monday Memo, please email julie.wrinn@louisville.edu.
Human Resources
A reminder that performance evaluations were due March 10. Please be sure to complete them and forward signed evaluations to ashumres@louisville.edu.
Upcoming Events
Advancing Online Learning Workshop Series: Join the Delphi Center’s Online Learning unit for an engaging, practical, hands-on workshop series about best practices in support of quality online higher education. This semi-annual event will bring together administrators, staff, and faculty to learn and share experiences, tips, and insights about a variety of topics related to online learning. Tues., March 21, virtual option or in-person in the TILL Classroom, Ekstrom 302A. Light breakfast at 8:30 AM with program running 9-10:30 AM. Learn more.
ChatGPT and Generative AI in Teaching and Learning Working Session: The Delphi Center is partnering with faculty and staff across the institution, including Dept. of English Lecturer Walker Smith, to consider how the rise of generative AI such as ChatGPT is shifting the landscape of teaching and learning. The next workshop in our series will showcase examples of how UofL faculty and students are using ChatGPT and AI in coursework and help participants brainstorm how they may engage with AI such as ChatGPT in their courses. Wed., March 22, 10 – 11:15 AM. Max of 30 registrants. Learn more and register, or visit this webpage for further resources.
Telling Their Stories: A Celebration of Women Veterans. The Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs and UofL Commonwealth Center for the Humanities and Society present a speaker series of women veterans highlighting the importance of their stories and perspectives. Martha L. Kotite, retired captain, U.S. Coast Guard, award-winning author, and TEDx speaker, will speak on Wed., March 22, 6:00pm to 7:30pm, Chao Auditorium, Ekstrom Library, introduced by Heather French Henry. RSVP at women.veterans@ky.gov. See flyer below.
On Mon., March 27, at 11 a.m., Ian Stansel, Associate Professor and Director of Creative Writing in the Department of English, will interview Geraldine Brooks, author of the 2022 novel Horse, as part of the Kentucky Author Forum series. The event will take place at the University Club. Faculty, staff and students are invited to attend. Based on the true story of the record-breaking thoroughbred, Lexington, Horse is a novel of art and science, love and obsession and our unfinished reckoning with racism. More information: evie@kentuckyauthorforum.com.
Join the Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research for a film screening of From the Hood to the Holler: Charles Booker’s Movement to Unite America, followed by a talkback with Charles Booker himself. Booker most recently ran for U.S. Senate in Kentucky during the November 2022 elections and now leads the Governor's Office of Faith-Based Initiatives and Community Involvement. The film screening will begin promptly at 5:30pm in the Chao Auditorium (1:42 running time) with the talkback to follow. This event is free and open to the public, with free pizza provided! Co-sponsored by Intefaith America's the Vote is Sacred Initiative. RSVP required at: bit.ly/BOOKERTALK. See flyer below.
Cultivating Liberation Pt. II: Louisville Civil Rights History Bus Tour. Join the Anne Braden Institute for a special bus edition of our Louisville Civil Rights History Tour. Explore the importance of past and modern civil rights history in Louisville with your student peers. This event is open to all UofL students! Please RSVP by March 22nd by clicking here. This is part two of the Cultivating Liberation series with the Hispanic/Latinx & Indigenous Initiatives, Anne Braden Institute, and LGBT Center. Sat., April 1 at 10:00am.
The Department of Philosophy is hosting a conference on Adam Smith (b. 1723), in honor of his 300th birthday. Best known as the author of The Wealth of Nations (1776), the Scottish philosopher is considered to be the founder of modern Economics. Students will present posters of their research on Tuesday, April 4, at 4:00 p.m., in HUM 300. The event is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be served. A 1799 edition of The Wealth of Nations will be on display at Ekstrom library. You can support philosophy students with your donation to the needs-based Thomas S. Maloney Scholarship in Philosophy. See flyer below.
Cursing the Curse: From Pombagira to Trans/Queer Performance, a lecture by Pablo Assumpção Barros Costa, Fulbright Chair in the Arts at Indiana University (spring 2023) and professor of Dance and Performance Studies at the Federal University of Ceará, in Fortaleza, where he also directs the Graduate Arts Program. A brief look into contemporary artistic performances by trans of color artists in Brazil reveals a complex language of self-abjection and sexual warfare that forces a reconfiguration of modernity’s terms of value, and the obliteration of normative expectations for political subjectivity. In presenting the recent cultural production of trans of color artists in Brazil, a genealogical link will be outlined between such artistic repertoire of base values and the magical power of female sexuality embodied in Pombagira. Read more. Tues., April 4, 4:00pm to 5:30pm, Bingham Humanities Building 100.
The 31st Neuroscience Day symposium will be held April 13 in the Kosair Charities Clinical and Translational Research Building, Health Sciences Center Campus. Neuroscience Day is an opportunity to showcase neuroscience research from around the region and features an exciting lineup of local and invited speakers. This year's meeting focuses on the relationship among brain function, development and plasticity. We are excited to host two outstanding scientists from the National Institute of Mental Health, James Bourne and Tobias Merson. We want to see your work. Membership, abstract submission and meeting registration are free. For more information, visit the webpage.
