May 27, 2024

Dear A&S Colleagues,

On this Memorial Day, we pause to honor and remember the brave men and women who have sacrificed their lives in service to our nation. As we reflect on their courage and dedication, I would like to extend a special recognition to our ROTC departments, Aerospace Science and Military Science. These programs embody the spirit of service and leadership, preparing the next generation of officers. Let us take this time to express our profound gratitude and respect for all who serve and have served, and to acknowledge the exceptional contributions of our ROTC cadets and staff.

I would also like to introduce Stephanie Godward (pictured below), the new Communications and Marketing Director for the College of Arts & Sciences. In her first two weeks, Stephanie has hit the ground running to amplify our stories on social media. She has been meeting with individual faculty and staff and conducting a comprehensive communications assessment, which will inform a communications strategy and detailed plan. Stephanie is also focused on ways to improve communications processes to ensure that the College’s wide array of successes are communicated clearly to the Office of Marketing and Communications, the Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement, and other external and internal audiences. Her expertise will be instrumental in ensuring a unified voice for the College while also connecting students to the A&S identity.

Stephanie began her career as a news reporter and has 12 years of experience as a communications leader in the nonprofit sector. As a mission-driven professional, she brings key strengths that include strategic storytelling, project management, graphic design, and photography. Stephanie has a BA in journalism from Point Park University and a master’s degree in public relations from Kent State University. She grew up in Erie, PA, and spent the last 20 years in Pittsburgh before moving to southern Indiana this past December with her husband, Tim, and their 13-year-old Springer Spaniel Mix, Chance. With Stephanie’s leadership, I am confident that we will continue to elevate our College’s presence and impact through strategic storytelling and effective communications. Please join me in welcoming Stephanie! 

And finally, as we celebrate our graduates and wish them well in their future pursuits, it's the perfect time to pay tribute to those faculty and staff who provided outstanding program leadership and mentorship, ensuring that all our students can realize their full potential during their time at UofL. I am so thankful for this year's winners of A&S awards in program leadership and mentorship, recognized below.

Sincerely,

Dayna Touron, Ph.D., Dean

A&S Awards in Program Leadership & Mentorship

Left to right: Dean Touron, Rebecca Ledford, Frank Kelderman, Kristopher Grady, Benne Holwerda, and Susan Ryan. Not pictured: Yara Mekawi

Commencement Profile

BS in General Studies Graduate Finds Her "Why" in the Classroom

By Julie Wrinn

General Studies is a new major in A&S launched in 2022 and directed by Prof. Joseph Grant that offers nontraditional students a shorter path to earning their degree. Simone Rivera (pictured above), class of 2024, is among the program’s first 10 graduates. As a freshman at UofL, Simone was a Spanish major, and Dr. Regina Roebuck remembers her well: “Simone was determined and unafraid of taking on a challenge, as evidenced by her semester-long study abroad in the Dominican Republic.” Eventually, however, Simone struggled academically and needed to take time away to self-reflect and work on obstacles that were in her way, leaving the university in 2011.

For the next decade, Simone worked in a variety of positions, from customer service call centers to the healthcare industry. These experiences strengthened important skills such as time management, teamwork, and accountability, but she was not satisfied with her long-term prospects. “It was a realization for me that I needed to return to school to pursue a career that I was passionate about and one that would help me grow financially,” she said.

Simone initially chose to attend Jefferson Community and Technical College, earning an Associate’s Degree in 2021. Returning to UofL after that was easier than she anticipated. “My academic advisor Danielle Dolan helped me throughout after my petition was approved," said Simone. "She was great and very helpful.”

Simone also benefitted from the flexibility of the General Studies major, which allowed her to use all previous UofL credits towards that degree. Working full-time at the UofL School of Dentistry, she devoted evenings and weekends to class work. Those sacrifices paid off, as Simone is now qualified to embark on a career that aligns with her passions: becoming an elementary school teacher, ideally of first graders. She will be able to gain teacher certification through the Jefferson County Public Schools Louisville Teacher Residency program, a partnership with UofL. One of society’s most urgent needs, especially after the pandemic, is highly qualified public school teachers, and we can all be thankful that Simone persevered and found her ‘why’ in the classroom. “I’m ready to teach the next generations of students,” she said.

Simone also earned two minors in A&S, in Spanish and Psychology. Her advice for others who are considering a return to school is: “Just do it. Take a leap of faith,” she said. “Start with one or two courses and see how that works for you and your schedule. You must believe in yourself and know that you are able to be successful. Find your motivation, your ‘why,’ and you will make it to graduation.” Read more. 

Sustainability

Beekeeping Intern Represents the Past and Future of Kentucky Urban Agriculture 

By Tony Piedmonte

Anthropology student Shelby Robinson (pictured above) has made her impact on campus through a unique practice – beekeeping. Robinson is UofL’s dedicated beekeeping intern and cares for the university’s beehives managed through UofL Sustainability.

Honeybees have always been a part of Robinson’s life, as she first learned about beekeeping from family members who’ve cared for beehives through generations, starting with her grandfather, and then her father. “My grandfather had this big garden and orchard with apple trees, so he had the bees to pollinate them,” Robinson said. “I just remember playing around the garden and being close to the bees. They weren’t ever interested in me because I wasn’t bothering them, so that fear kind of got eliminated when I was pretty young.”

After the death of Robinson's grandfather, her family kept a hive on his property to support the orchard. The UofL’s beekeeping internship has brought Robinson closer to her father, from whom she now asks for advice when dealing with new obstacles facing UofL’s beehives.

As a beekeeper, Robinson has developed her own style under the guidance of her father and the UofL Sustainability mentorship. "It's like a dance to specifically move with the bees and see which frame they’re mostly on and which one I should touch and which one I shouldn’t,” Robinson said.  “I read somewhere that bees can remember their beekeeper’s face, so I always try to talk to them when I get in the hive and just see how they’re doing,” Robinson said. 

Caring for bees not only ties Robinson to her community and family, but it also fulfills a called duty to the environment and sustainability. “The responsibility as UofL’s beekeeping intern to me is to show kindness and consideration toward ecology, urban agriculture and every little pollinator that comes my way,” Robinson said.

Justin Mog, assistant to the provost for sustainability initiatives, created the beekeeping internship to help connect student learning with sustainable agriculture and nature stewardship. He and Shelby also participate in programming on-and-off campus to better connect the Louisville community with honeybee conservation. “Anyone who cares about sustainability needs an intimate understanding of how nature works, and I find there’s no better way to do that than to crack open a beehive and observe what’s going on,” Mog said. “I learn so much from my bees!” Read more.

Students Named National & International Scholars

A&S students were named to an amazing array of prestigious national and international scholar programs this year! Congratulations to them and to their teachers and mentors.

Rhodes Scholarship finalist

The Rhodes is the oldest international scholarship program, enabling outstanding young people from around the world to study at Oxford. The last finalist/scholar from UofL was in 2009.

• Forest Clevenger, Political Science 2022

Knight-Hennessy Scholar

The Knight-Hennessy Scholars program supports a multidisciplinary community of graduate students from across Stanford University and delivers engaging experiences that prepare graduates to be visionary, courageous, and collaborative leaders who address complex challenges facing the world.

• Afi Tagnedji, Chemistry and Biochemistry 2023, MLK Scholar, Porter Scholar, Goldwater Scholar (2022), Quad Fellow (2023)

Fulbright Awards

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers research, study and teaching opportunities in over 140 countries to recent graduates and graduate students. Administered in the U.S. by the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Fulbright program was established in 1946 to promote international goodwill through education and cultural exchange.

English Teaching Assistantships:

• Medina Aslan: Turkey; Political Science, minor in Public Health (2024)
• Yelena Bagdasaryan: Armenia; Political Science, PHIS: Public Health
• Julia Barclay: Thailand; Spanish, PHIS: Public Health (2022)
• Beverly Granger: Moldova; History, Anthropology (2018), Master’s of Public Administration (2024), CEHD: ESL Certificate, MPA
• Olivia Hanke: Spain; Political Science, Spanish (2024)
• Abigail Stanger: Germany; History major, German, Humanities minors (2024), Grawemeyer Scholar

Fulbright US-UK Summer Institutes:

The US-UK Fulbright Commission offers special Summer Institutes for first and second-year undergraduates. Participants experience an exciting academic program at a highly regarded UK university, explore the culture, heritage, and history of the UK, and develop their academic ability by improving presentation, research, and communication skills.

• Alexandria Ipock-Groves: History, Political Science (2026), Brown Fellows Program
• Saadhavi Maskey: Individualized Major (2026), Brown Fellows Program

Boren Scholarship

The Boren Awards provide undergraduate and graduate students in all fields of study with funding for up to one year of immersive study abroad in languages and regions of interest to U.S. national security.

• Yelena Bagdasaryan: Czech, Czech Republic: Political Science, PHIS: Public Health (2024/5), McConnell Scholar
• Alexis Daniel: Portuguese, Brazil: Criminal Justice; Kent: Social Work (2024/5)
• Mikaella Tanales: Mandarin, Taiwan: Political Science (2025)

Rotary Global Grant

Rotary Global Grants support humanitarian work, scholarships, and vocational training projects aimed at building international relationships, promoting peace, and improving lives.

• Nominee: Forest Clevenger: B.S. Political Science (2022), Rhodes Scholarship Finalist (2023)

Critical Language Scholarship

The CLS program provides opportunities for overseas language and cultural immersion for students interested in critical languages that are essential to the United States’ engagement with the world.

• Kamal Amirneni: Spanish, Biology; Public Health minor (2025), Brown Fellows Program
• Ryan Apperson: Turkish, Philosophy (2024), Boren Scholar (2023)
• Laura Hanna: Biology, Arabic  minor (2025)
• Rehan Kahloon: Psychology, Spanish (2026)

FAO Schwarz Fellowship

The FAO Schwarz Fellowship provides an intensive two-year experience for graduating seniors who wish to develop their leadership and professional skills, deepen their knowledge of social equity, and pursue careers in social impact.

• Shraddha Patel: Individualized—Sociology with a track in Diversity and Inequality, Social Biology; minors in Math, Political Science, Classical Studies; Ali Scholar

Public Policy & International Affairs (PPIA) Jr. Summer Institute

The PPIA Junior Summer Institute Fellowship Program is a rigorous academic graduate-level preparation program for undergraduate juniors committed to public service careers.

• Edler Jonhatan: Political Science; minors in Marketing and Social Change, MLK Scholar

English-Speaking Union KY Branch Summer Scholarship

The English-Speaking Union is a non-profit educational service organization. Its summer study abroad scholarships for college juniors and Kentucky teachers are intended to promote the advancement of knowledge in an expanding global community.

• Eden Baize: Oxford, History (2025), Grawemeyer Scholar

Mary Churchill Humphrey (MCH) Scholarship

The University of Louisville MCH Centenary Memorial Scholarship enables graduates of the College of Arts & Sciences to pursue advanced study in the United Kingdom.

• Forest Clevenger: B.S. Political Science (2022)

Kudos

A&S Professors Contribute to Portrait of Louisville's Western Library

Kudos to David Anderson, Professor of English, and Tracy K’Meyer, Professor of History, for their contributions to a recent article in the Christian Science Monitor exploring Louisville’s Western Library, considered the oldest public library in the U.S. independently run by and for African Americans. It was also the earliest training ground of Black librarians from around the South. Read more and view a video of Anderson speaking about the library's importance.

Rave Reviews for New Book on Animals' Social Networks

Congratulations to Lee Dugatkin, Professor of Biology, on the publication of his latest book, The Well-Connected Animal: Social Networks and the Wondrous Complexity of Animal Societies (University of Chicago Press, May 2024). Currently the #1 new release on Amazon in Biology of Wildlife, The Well-Connected Animal is receiving rave reviews in a myriad of sources, from Scientific American to the Wall Street Journal, which called it "Scrupulously scientific but highly accessible. . . . A stunningly provocative reflection.” 

In this tour of the animal kingdom, Dugatkin reveals a new field of study, uncovering social networks that existed long before the dawn of human social media. He accessibly describes the latest findings from animal behavior, evolution, computer science, psychology, anthropology, genetics, and neurobiology, and incorporates interviews and insights from researchers he finds swimming with manta rays, avoiding pigeon poop, and stopping monkeys from stealing iPads. Whether vampire bats sharing blood meals for survival, field crickets remembering champion fighters, macaque monkeys forming grooming pacts after a deadly hurricane, or great tit birds learning the best way to steal milk—it pays to be well connected.

As the Wall Street Journal reviewer said, "An additional payoff, beyond insights into the critters, is being introduced to the scientists conducting each fascinating research project. Reader, I connected with this book, and I think there’s a good chance you will, too."

New Essay on "Theatre of the Absurd" Playwright Harold Pinter

Kudos to Ann Hall, Professor of Comparative Humanities, on the publication of her essay on the playwright Harold Pinter in The Routledge Companion to Absurdist Literature(Routledge, May 2024). In addition to Prof. Hall's essay (chapter 21), the volume covers many of the most influential writers of the twentieth century, including Samuel Beckett, Edward Albee, Eugene Ionesco, Jean Genet, and Albert Camus. Not only investigating the so-called “Theatre of the Absurd,” this volume also wades deeply into absurdist fiction and absurdist poetry, expanding much of our previous sense of what constitutes absurdist literature. Furthermore, long overdue, approximately one-third of the book is devoted to marginalized writers: black, Latin/x, female, LGBTQ+, and non-Western voices (see cover below).

Pan African Studies Chair Chosen for "Sacred Writes" Summer Program

Congratulations to Brandon McCormack, Chair of Pan African Studies, on being named one of 12 scholars chosen for the "Sacred Writes: Public Scholarship on Religion" training program this summer. Funded by a grant from the Henry R. Luce Foundation, these scholars will meet virtually to cultivate practical skills toward producing public-facing work based on their areas of expertise, as well as to build a community of accountability and support for sustainable, responsible public scholarship on religion. Each scholar receives a $1,000 stipend and commits to placing two pieces of public scholarship within a year of the training, e.g., op-eds, public interviews, and trade books. McCormack's cohort includes scholars from Harvard Divinity, Dartmouth, University of Chicago, and Princeton. 

Campus Security

Recent Phishing Scams Prompt IT to Create Informational Website

Phising scrams are an ever-present threat in today's world. In two recent incidents, students have been scammed out of substantial sums of money by someone posing as a faculty member. Other scams have targeted faculty and staff with emails purporting to be from department chairs. Please remind your students, faculty, and staff to acquaint themselves with phishing scams, how to recognize them, and how to report them, by visiting this webpage created by UofL Information Technology Services. 

New University Safety App: CARD ARMOR

Get ready to enhance your personal safety with the touch of a button. Released on May 23, the Card Amor app is available for free wherever you get your apps. It allows students, faculty, and staff to instantly access important resources including:

• Request a Card Cruiser safety escort from dusk to dawn daily via the TripShot feature, which operates similarly to Uber/Lyft. 
• Anonymously report a crime to ULPD.
• Access campus maps, support resources, emergency plans and notify your personal emergency contacts that you are okay with one message.
• Report your location to police with a touch of the Mobile Blue Light feature.
• Allow your personally designated person to virtually follow you for safety reasons.
• Allow campus police to monitor your travels for safety reasons.

Users have complete control as to whether or not anyone, including police, can track their location via GPS. Even if you do not grant this access, the app is an important tool and should be downloaded by all campus members.

Card Armor replaces the previous version of Rave Guardian but does NOT replace the Rave Emergency Notification System. All traditional methods of communicating with the Department of Public Safety are still available. You can still report a crime, receive emergency assistance or request a Card Cruiser safety escort by calling ULPD at (502) 852-6111.

Two-Factor Authentication for Blackboard

UofL is adding two-factor authentication via Duo to Blackboard starting June 11, 2024. After this date, all students, faculty and staff will need to use this second factor of authentication to login to Blackboard. Please spread the word to UofL students in your unit: they can still enroll in UL2FCTR (Duo)—and the majority have done so—or update their account via our webpage: louisville.edu/its/ul2fctr.

Two-factor authentication keeps your account secure even if your password is compromised. With UL2FCTR / Duo, you'll be alerted right away (on your phone) if someone is trying to log in as you. All students, faculty, and staff must enroll in UL2FCR/Duo. Visit the UL2FCTR webpage for more information.

A&S Events

Origin Stories: Peruvian Pre-Columbian Ceramics Exhibition

The Hite Institute of Art + Design is pleased to present Origin Stories, an exhibition of Peruvian pre-Columbian work from the archives of the Speed Art Museum curated by Dani Deeley. On view for the first time in nearly forty years, the objects in this exhibition provoke questions about the acquisition of objects, the circumstances of their arrival, and their current condition.

The collection of Peruvian art was donated by Elizabeth Crow Bullitt, of the well-known Bullitt family in Louisville, on behalf of her late husband, Charles William Buck in 1934. Buck acquired these objects during his time as U.S. ambassador to Peru from 1885 to 1889. Origin Stories presents a window into the lives of five Peruvian pre-Columbian ceramic objects that, up until 2024, had never been fully investigated. This exhibition will be on view from July 13 through August 9 at the Cressman Center for Visual Arts. The opening reception will be on July 13, from 4pm-7pm. 

UofL Events

Instructors’ Fall Courses in Blackboard Ultra

UofL’s Blackboard team is excited to announce all fall 2024 course shells have been created in Blackboard Ultra. Don't wait; prepare yourself now to ensure a smooth transition. Delphi recommends attending a virtual training first to learn the basics, and then a pop-in session this week for personalized support. It’s essential for even users familiar with Blackboard Original to attend Ultra training due to significant user experience and feature differences.  

Deadline extended: Apply for the 2024 Green Threads Workshop by June 1

Interested in integrating themes of ecological, social & economic stewardship into your courses? The Sustainability Council invites all full- or part-time faculty, instructors & GTA Academy members from ANY discipline to apply for the 2024 Green Threads teaching enrichment program. We’ll explore ways to weave sustainability into your curriculum through a one-day workshop in August. You’ll receive a $500 honorarium, course development resources, local sustainability insights, & a network of colleagues from across UofL. Apply by June 1st, with Chair’s approval. Website & Application. Contact: Brent Fryrear bfryrear@louisville.edu, (502) 852-8854. See below for the 2023 Green Threads faculty cohort.