Monday Memo May 16, 2016

Message from the Dean

Dear Colleagues,

The graduation festivities of last week were great fun. The achievements of our students announced at our Honors Convocation were amazing. The hooding ceremony was very special, and the delight of the Theatre Arts MFA recipients to be included was clearly evident. None of those events held a candle to Commencement, however. Seeing the happy smiles on the 500 or so of our 800 graduates who I was able to congratulate and to whom I handed a diploma cannot be beat. I was swelling with pride, too, when President Ramsey spoke so highly about the College of Arts & Sciences in his speech – much deserved. I feel very lucky to have what is surely the best job on campus. Thank you so very much.

I want to thank Professor Wendy Pfeffer for her service as the Associate Dean for Graduate Education. She has done a great job of coordinating our efforts with SIGS, organizing our graduate activities, and helping to implement several new programs. She will be returning to her fulltime faculty position in Classical & Modern Languages in July.

I am pleased to announce that Professor Janet Woodruff-Borden of the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences will become our Associate Dean of Graduate Education with the new academic year. She will be responsible for continuing the current administrative operations, but also working with graduate program directors and departments to grow and strengthen our graduate programs in terms of visibility, funding, and prominence. Having served as the director of the clinical psychology doctoral program from 2001-04 and 2007-2016, Dr. Woodruff-Borden has considerable experience. She has also served as major professor for 32 master’s students and 34 doctoral students, on 38 preliminary exam committees, and 61 committees for other graduate students. With roughly 75 peer-reviewed articles and nearly $10 million in grant funding, Professor Woodruff-Borden brings a great deal of talent and expertise to this position.

I also want to recognize the years of service and express our collective thanks for the important contributions of Ms. Rachael Siler, Administrative Specialist in the A&S Budget Office (1992-2016) and Dr. Xuiije Sun, Director for Asia Programs (1999-2016). Best wishes to them for great fun ahead!

Happy Summer!


Kimberly Kempf-Leonard
Dean

Announcements

Graduate assistantships available
The Office of the President is currently seeking applicants for Graduate Assistantships. Benefits include in-state tuition, student health insurance, and a stipend.  

Candidates for the positions should be highly-motivated, professional individuals with excellent critical thinking skills.  They must be reliable team players who work well under pressure and in the public sphere. Candidates must be well-versed in Microsoft office programs and possess excellent communication skills.

Please have qualified applicants send a résumé and cover letter to Julie Kroger at julie.kroger@louisville.edu before May 25, 2016.

Faculty: Sign up for Speed LEAD workshop on funding STEM education May 18
This week’s Speed LEAD will focus on “Funding Opportunities at NSF for Engineering Education and STEM Education,” on Wed., May 18, in the Vogt Building, Room 311 from 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. The presenter will be Dr. Yvette Pearson, NSF Program Director. There will be a proposal writing strategies workshop focused on developing competitive proposals with emphasis on STEM education programs.

Oral History Training Session with Tracy K’Meyer May 27
Prof. Tracy K’Meyer, whose research focuses on the history of the civil rights movement, will be conducting an oral history training session on May 27 at the University Club from 3-5pm. The session is free and open to the public and there is FREE PARKING at the U Club. Coffee, tea and light refreshments will be served. Prof. K’Meyer, co-director of the University of Louisville Oral History Center, will cover the basics of designing and implementing an oral history project. Please RSVP to Heather Fox, co-director of the University of Louisville Oral History Center.

Kudos & Congratulations

Prof. Clayton wins distinguished teaching award
Prof Dewey Clayton (Political Science), whose research focuses on American politics and race, is the recipient of the American Political Science Association's 2016 Distinguished Teaching Award which is awarded annually to honor the outstanding contribution to undergraduate and graduate teaching of political science at two- and four-year institutions.

Teaching, Service, Creative Activities & Research

Prof. Lutz presents at Rosenbach library and museum
Prof. Deborah Lutz (English), whose most recent book is The Brontë Cabinet: Three Lives in Nine Objects (New York: Norton, 2015), was invited to speak on the Brontës and material culture by the Rosenbach library and museum, in Philadelphia, on May 11.

Items of Note

Humanities senior wins study abroad photo contest
Caitlyn Bowyer (Humanities) won first place with “Eiserner Steg Uber Main, Germany,” in the 9th Annual Study Abroad photo contest, co-sponsored by Murphy’s Camera. Diana Lalata (English & Political Science) won second place with “Sahara Desert, Morocco,” and Kelsi Wermuth (Fine Arts) won third place and A&S staff favorite with “Boy, South Africa.”

Prof. Buckley on the Phillipines’ Duterte and Donald Trump
The UofL Center for Asian Democracy’s latest Inside Asia podcast is a conversation with Prof. David Buckley, the Paul Weber Chair in Politics, Science, and Religion in the Political Science Department. An expert on Philippine politics, he'll discuss, among other things, how many have pointed to the similarities between Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines' presumptive president, and the candidacy of Donald Trump in the United States presidential election. Duterte, like Trump, has won support with his populist appeal and tough-talking, foul-mouth tirades against his opponents. Duterte even attacked Pope Francis in a country that remains staunchly Catholic. Give it a listen!

Hite Art Institute exhibition considers summer break
Students Ash Braunecker, Hunter Kissel and Madison Sevilla curated the latest exhibition Summer Breaks: Labor, Leisure, Lust, as part of a critical and curatorial studies seminar taught by Chris Reitz, assistant professor of critical and curatorial studies and gallery director of Hite Art Institute.

In the News

A war like no other (Devil’s Lake Journal, 5/7/16) – On archaeologist and Prof. John Hale’s (Liberal Studies) 24-lecture audiovisual course on The Greek and Persian Wars.

Three distinct Dems vie for Metro 4 seat (The Courier-Journal) – On Bryan Burns, a research assistant and doctoral student in Urban and Public Affairs, and his campaign for the Metro Council District Four seat.

SpeedPro Imaging Opens its First Studio in Louisville (Franchising.com, 5/10/16) – On alumnus Kevin Ruh (Fine Arts) and the national expansion of his business SpeedPro Imaging, the nation’s leader in large-format imagery.

What neo-Confederates really want (The Courier-Journal, 5/11/16) – Prof. Ricky Jones’ (Pan-African Studies), whose research includes African-American politics and culture, column on the vitriol expressed by neo-Confederates.

Is Facebook reinforcing your political bias? (Christian Science Monitor, 5/11/16) – Prof. Jason Gainous (Political Science), whose research includes social media and politics, on the news that Facebook news curators are filtering conservative media from trending news on the site.

Dave Johnson's rock 'n' roll law school (The Courier-Journal, 5/11/16) – On alumnus Dave Johnson (Philosophy) and his work in music and his decision to go to law school at UofL.

An imagined town through art at Zephyr (The Courier-Journal, 5/12/16) – On the exhibit “Blind Contours,” curated by Prof. Chris Reitz (Fine Arts, Critical & Curatorial Studies) and featuring the work of alumna Jenée Rue Sastry (Fine Arts).

Spotlight on Faculty Research

Dr. Laurie Rhodebeck’s latest study “Another Issue Comes Out: Gay Rights Policy Voting in Recent U.S. Presidential Elections,” published in the Journal of Homosexuality in 2015, focuses on gay rights and presidential elections.