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The semester is flying by—as always. This time of the year is busy, not only in the classroom, the lab, and the library, but also with lectures and with events involving parents and alumni. Just last week, we had a tremendously varied and important series of lectures that I hope many of you were able to attend. Large numbers heard lectures by Lani Guinier, who talked about the responsibilities of higher education to help build an inclusive society, sponsored by the Africana Research Center and the Department of African and African American Studies; alumnus Peter Klein, producer for CBS' 60 Minutes, who spoke on “Journalism, War, and Ethics,” in a “War and Ethics” series sponsored by the Rock Ethics Institute; Morris Fiorina, a political scientist well known for his work on the Red states and the Blue States, whose public lecture on that topic was sponsored by the Department of Political Science; and Yusef Komunyakaa, an eminent poet who read from his work and answered questions as part of the Emily Dickinson Lecture Series sponsored by the Department of English. To find out what interesting events are planned for future weeks, be sure and check the WebEvents calendar. Earlier this month, we saw thousands of parents on campus for parents' weekend, and we've seen, and will see, tens of thousands of alumni and friends descend on campus for the football games this month. Much less noticed than what goes on in Beaver stadium, these weekends provide opportunities for the colleges to welcome their friends and supporters and reconnect them to the academic side of the University. For example, during the Purdue weekend, our Liberal Arts alumni board met and mapped out more ways that they can support the College through providing advice and mentorship to our students as well as through financial support for scholarship funds. An alumni board-sponsored mentoring program kicked off with a dinner where students and their mentors met and began a year long connection. We anticipate that this program will give students the opportunities to learn about preparing for careers and about the lifelong value of a Liberal Arts education, and will give alumni mentors a chance to give back to Penn State by helping a student. That same weekend, a group of alumni comprising the Department of English Board of Visitors met for the first time and began to plan how they can provide financial, internship, and other support to help the department achieve its goals. And a group of alumni supporters of Jewish Studies gathered to celebrate the successes of that program and to learn about how continuing support is needed to increase further the reach and quality of the program. These are only four examples of the kinds of meetings and activities that go along with each fall football weekend. These kinds of activities do not just happen. They take much work on the part of our staff in alumni relations and development and, when unit-focused events are planned, from departmental, program, and center staff. Department heads and program and center directors play a key role when alumni events are planned, and, of course, almost every event involves faculty as well. For example, while the English Board of Visitors was on campus, alumni were invited to visit some classes so they could see some of our best teachers and witness teaching in the field of English compared to what they remember. Mark Morrisson, the undergraduate director of the department, made a presentation to board members about the goals, successes, and challenges of the undergraduate program. Robert Caserio traced the department's progress over the last decade, his vision of where the department needs to go over the next decade, and the funding priorities necessary to realize that vision. It is these kinds of connections that lead to the strong support the College has received from alumni. Most of you know that during the Grand Destiny campaign, the College was able to raise $52 million, and the impact of that on our academic programs is stunning. I estimate that $1.5 million of support is flowing to the College and individual departments to support faculty, graduate students, and programs from income on the gifts made during that campaign, a figure that will grow as pledges are paid and estate gifts come to maturity. As state support for Penn State shrinks as a proportion of our budget each year, we must continue to find and build other sources of support as we seek to become even better. Penn State and the College have wonderful alumni who care deeply about Penn State and its programs. I am pleased that so many of you are engaged in the efforts to reconnect them in ways that are meaningful to both them and us. Susan Welch This year the College welcomes twenty-four new tenure and tenure-line faculty colleagues. Last month we profiled ten of them and this month we profile the remaining fourteen. These brief biographies are located on the College Web site at: http://www.la.psu.edu/assocdea/newfaculty2004/bios.htm. This month we profile assistant professors. Markus Asper, assistant professor of classics and ancient Mediterranean studies, earned his Ph.D. from the University of Freiburg (Germany) in 1994. His research focuses on ancient Greek science, Greek Hellenistic poetry, and comedy. His interests also include modern literary criticism and social theories. Prior to joining Penn State, he was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton and held various teaching and research positions in Germany. Sophie Bade, assistant professor of economics, comes to us from NYU, where she completed her Ph.D. in economics this summer. Her research interests lie in the areas of political economy and economic theory. Her thesis develops a theory of multi-issue elections and shows that uncertainty about voter preferences can result in a generalization of the classic median-voter analysis of single-issue elections. Navin Bapat, assistant professor of political science, received his B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1998, and his Ph.D. from Rice University in 2004. Navin is a specialist on armed conflicts within and between nation-states, transnational terrorism, and crisis bargaining. He has delivered several papers on terrorism, war, and international bargaining. Lila Corwin Berman, assistant professor of religious studies and Jewish studies, will receive her Ph.D. from Yale University in December 2004 and earned her B.A. from Amherst College. She specializes in American religious history and Jewish history and has written a dissertation about Jewish efforts to educate Americans about Jews and Jewishness in the twentieth-century. She has published about Jewish missionary experiments in the journal Religion and American Culture and was the recipient of a Wexner Graduate Fellowship. Scott Herring, assistant professor of English, recently received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Scott specializes in queer studies, gender theory, and modern U.S. literatures and cultures. His current book project, Unsolved Mysteries, investigates relationships between early twentieth-century “slumming” narratives and representations of urban homosexual subcultures. Portions of the manuscript have appeared in several journals. He has also published on the pre-Stonewall closet and gay print practices of the late 1970's. Frank G. Hillary, assistant professor of psychology, received his Ph.D. from Drexel University in 2000. Frank's research interests are primarily in the area of adult neuropsychology. More specifically, his research examines mechanisms of neural plasticity following brain injury and disease. Neuroimaging techniques including magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, and near infrared spectroscopy are an important methodology for examining how the brain adapts to insult. Frank was invited to be the cover story of the professional publication, Innovations in August 2002 as a result of an NIH grant awarded that same year. He has published in numerous journals. Alexander Huang, assistant professor of comparative literature and Chinese, received his Ph.D. in comparative literature, with a joint Ph.D. in interdisciplinary studies in the humanities, from Stanford University in Spring 2004. He also holds degrees in German and English. His dissertation is a critical history and analysis of Shakespeare's plays as performed on the Chinese stage. Alex has taught at Harvard, Tufts, and Fairleigh Dickinson, as well as at Stanford, has received funding from the Folger Institute, the Taiwanese Ministry of Education, and other sources, and has published on Chinese and Western literature. Cynthia Huang-Pollock, assistant professor of psychology, received her Ph.D. in 2003 from Michigan State University. Cynthia is a child clinical psychologist who is interested in identifying neurocognitive deficits that may be associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In recent studies, she has examined whether attention as a cognitive process is dysfunctional in children with extreme levels of behavioral inattention and hyperactivity. She received a predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (NRSA) from the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Robert E. Harris award in recognition for Clinical and Research Excellence from the University of California, San Francisco. Recent publications have appeared in several journals. Kenneth N. Levy, assistant professor psychology, received his Ph.D. in 1999 from the City University of New York, and a post-doc at the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Ken's research focuses on attachment theory, emotion regulation, personality disorders, and psychotherapy process and outcome. Ken's work has lead to a number of awards, including his selection as an Early Career Fellow of the American Psychoanalytic Association, a Young Investigator Award from the National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia, and the Raymond D. Fowler Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Professional Development of Graduate Students by the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students. He has published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, American Journal of Psychiatry, Development and Psychopathology, among other journals. Kathy Powers, assistant professor of political science, received her B.A. at Northwestern in 1993, and M.A.s from SUNY Stony Brook in 1995 and Ohio State in 1998. She received her Ph.D. from Ohio State in 2001. Kathy comes to us from the University of Arizona. Her dissertation was on international institutions, trade, and conflict, with a focus on Africa. Aaron Rubin, assistant professor of Jewish studies, classics and ancient Mediterranean studies, and comparative literature, received his Ph.D. from Harvard University's department of Near Eastern Languages and Literatures in 2004. Aaron's research focuses on the history and linguistic development of the Semitic languages, with an emphasis on Hebrew, Aramaic, and Ethiopic. His dissertation was a study of the process of grammaticalization in the ancient and modern Semitic languages. Aaron has written articles on these topics, and is currently working to complete his first book, a history of the study of Hebrew. Stephanie Springgay, assistant professor in art education and women's studies, completed her Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia, Canada, in June 2004. Her research explores contemporary visual art and culture in relation to issues of gender, the body, and subjectivity. Her dissertation examines youth understandings of body knowledge through contemporary art practices and proposes new models for thinking about the body and education. She is an active visual artist working in the area of installation art, particularly with human hair. Jeremy Staff, assistant professor of crime, law, and justice, received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities in 2004. He received a National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in 2002. Jeremy has published several articles, including “Work and Leisure in Adolescence,” and “The Fruits of Good Work: Job Quality and Adolescent Deviance.” His research interests are in the life course, criminology, stratification, and methods and statistics. Rachel Teukolsky, assistant professor of English, received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 2004. Rachel's work explores intersections between literature and the visual arts, especially in Victorian Britain. Her dissertation focused on literary essays written in response to famous Victorian art controversies, in order to analyze some of the historical roots of modern aesthetic values. She has contributed to a volume on the Victorian aesthete Walter Pater, as well as to a forthcoming collection on the Great Exhibition of 1851. Congratulations to the following faculty who have won new grants during the past few weeks! Paul Amato, interim head, Department of Sociology, and professor of sociology and demography; Alan Booth, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Human Development, and Demography; David Eggebeen, associate professor of human development and family studies; Nancy Landale, professor of sociology and demography; Susan McHale, professor of human development and family studies; and Robert Schoen, Hoffman Professor of Family Sociology and Demography, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for “Family Formation in an Era of Family Change.” Lynn Liben, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, from the National Science Foundation for “Collaborative Research: Constructing Mental Images of Geologic Structures from Field Observations.” Judith Kroll, Liberal Arts Research Professor of Psychology and Linguistics, from the National Science Foundation for “Reading and Speaking Words in Two Languages: A Psycholinguistic Approach to Bilingualism.” Michael Wenger, associate professor of psychology, from Indiana University for “Perceptual Processes, Evidence, and Configurality.” Faculty Honors Cathleen Moore, associate professor of psychology and David Rosenbaum, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, have been elected as Fellows of the American Psychological Association (Division 3—Experimental). Fellow status is awarded, in part, on the basis of evaluated evidence of outstanding contributions made to research and the advancement of knowledge in the field of psychology. Robert Stern, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, received the Society for Psychophysiological Research Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychophysiology. The College will sponsor a panel discussion and information session on promotion and tenure for tenure-track faculty on Thursday, October 14, 2004, from 2 to 4 p.m. in 124 Sparks Building. The program will include remarks from Dean Welch, Professor Carey Eckhardt, head of comparative literature, and Dean Ronald Filippelli. The material covered will be similar to previous years (promotion and tenure procedures, dossier preparation, and the responsibilities of the tenure candidate), although we will, of course, touch on changes in promotion and tenure guidelines made during the past year. There will be an opportunity for questions and discussion. Though the panel is targeted for tenure-track faculty, all faculty are welcome to attend. Phi Beta Kappa and James Rambeau Honors Thesis Research Grants The Penn State Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa awards three research grants of $500 to meritorious research projects proposed by Schreyer Scholars as senior research projects. The grants will be awarded for the best submitted proposals from the College of the Liberal Arts, the Eberly College of Science, and the other colleges combined. Award recipients must be majoring in a discipline included within Phi Beta Kappa. A list of approved majors is available at the Chapter Web site http://www.clubs.psu.edu/PhiBetaKappa. The James Rambeau Honors Thesis Research Grant in the Humanities was instituted to honor and thank Dr. Rambeau, Associate Professor Emeritus of English, for his devoted leadership of the University Scholars Program from 1993-97. Eligible majors include: African and African American studies; anthropology; classics and ancient Mediterranean studies; communication arts and sciences; comparative literature; English; French; German; history; Italian; Japanese; Jewish Studies; Latin American Studies; linguistics; medieval studies; philosophy; religious studies; Russian; Spanish; and women's studies. (Students in a humanities major not listed here should contact Thomas Beebee, tob@psu.edu to see if they qualify). Proposals for the Phi Beta Kappa and James Rambeau research grants must be submitted to Thomas Beebee in 311 Burrowes Building no later than Friday, October 29, 2004. Late submissions will not be considered. Grants will be awarded at the Phi Beta Kappa Founders Day ceremony, at the Alumni Lounge, Nittany Lion Inn on December 2, 2004. Student, staff, and faculty members of Phi Beta Kappa are cordially invited to this event. RSVP to Thomas Beebee (863-4935; tob@psu.edu). Please note the following approaching deadlines for Institute competitions: Friday, October 15, 2004: Individual Faculty Grant Program (for the period January-June 2005) This program helps to fund the research and creative projects of individual faculty members in and across the arts and humanities at Penn State. Awards support materials, travel for research/creative activity, costs related to publication, wages for research assistance, and release time. Maximum grant award: $4,000. Friday, November 5, 2004: Resident Scholars and Artists Program, 2005-06 This program, jointly sponsored with the College of the Liberal Arts and the College of Arts and Architecture, provides up to eight faculty members per year with one semester of release time from teaching, a $1,000 grant for research expenses or materials, and the use of an office in Ihlseng Cottage. Monday, November 15, 2004: Interdisciplinary Groups Funding for interdisciplinary groups covers expenses directly related to group programming such as travel, lodging, and honoraria for invited speakers, performers, or artists; costs of publicity; research assistance to help with programming; costs related to publication ensuing from symposia or lecture series; and costs of exhibition or performance. Group programs may be funded for one academic year (2005-06) or for two years (2005-07). Maximum amount per group per year: $10,000. Tuesday, February 15, 2005: Graduate Student Summer Residency Program, 2005 This competitive program provides up to eight advanced graduate students with a $3,000 stipend and the use of an office in Ihlseng Cottage during summer term 2005, enabling them to spend focused time working on their dissertations or final creative projects. Graduate officers may nominate up to two students per department or program. Tuesday, March 1, 2005: Individual Faculty Grant Program (for the period July-December 2005) Further information on these programs, please call the Institute at 865-0495 or e-mail at iah1@psu.edu. 2004 Francis M. Sim Memorial Lecture Fadwa El Guindi, visiting professor of anthropology, Center of Contemporary Arab Studies, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington D.C., will present the Francis M. Sim Memorial Lecture for 2004 entitled, “The Politics of the Veil in the Islamic World and Beyond,” on Thursday, October 14, at 8:00 p.m. in 112 Kern Building. New Directions in North American Scholarship on Afro-Mexico Ben Vinson III, associate professor of history, and Matthew Restall, professor of history, women's studies, and anthropology, with the Africana Research Center as a primary sponsor, are hosting the one-day conference on Friday, October 15, at 108 Wartik Building. Opening remarks will start at 9 a.m. and the conference will conclude at 5 p.m. Through a series of symposia, noted scholars will address the current and emerging status of Afro-Mexico in the areas of literature, history, and anthropology. The conference is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Ben Vinson bjv10@psu.edu or the Africana Research Center at 865-6482 or africanacenter@la.psu.edu. The Rock Ethics Institute, the Africana Research Center, and Latin American studies will co-host the conference. On Saturday, October 16, 2004, the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures will host its third annual Pennsylvania German Day. The purpose of this event is to explore, showcase, and celebrate the German heritage in Pennsylvania with lectures, field trips, and banquets. Alumni, faculty, friends, students, and teachers are invited to attend. For further information about this event, go to http://german.la.psu.edu or contact the department at 865-5481. The Annual Joanne and Paul Tanker Lecture Dr. Steven Wasserstrom, The Moe and Izetta Tonkon Professor of Judiac Studies and Humanities at Reed College, will be the guest lecturer this year for the Annual Joanne and Paul Tanker Lecture hosted by the Jewish Studies Program. Dr. Wasserstrom will present “Siblings or Enemies? Jews and Muslims in the Formation of Islam” at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, October 22, 2004, in the Frizzell Memorial Room of the Frank and Sylvia Pasquerilla Spiritual Center. Specialization in Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (SCAN) Speaker Series The guest speakers for the Specialization in Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (SCAN) Speaker Series are Marlene Behrmann, Ph.D., Department of Psychololgy and Center for the Neural Bases of Cognition at Carnegie Mellon University, “The Ojects of High-level Vision: Evidence From Neuropsychological and Neurophysiological Studies,” on Thursday, November 4, 2004, at 1 p.m. and Greg Siegle, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, “From Brain Activity to Interverntion: Emotional Reactivity in Unipolar Depression,” on Thursday, November 11, 2004, at 1 p.m. Both presentations will take place in 352 Moore Building. Comparative Literature Luncheon The Comparative Literature Luncheon is a weekly informal lunchtime gathering of students, faculty, and other members of the University community. Each week there is a short (twenty-minute) presentation by a visitor or a local speaker on a topic related to a humanities discipline. Daniel Walden (dxw8@psu.edu) is the coordinator for the series this semester. We meet every Monday in 102 Kern at about 12:15 p.m. Coffee and tea are provided (no charge). You can bring your lunch or buy something on a tray in Kern Cafeteria (next door) and bring it into 102. The speaker will begin at about 12:40 p.m. Allowing a few minutes for discussion, we'll conclude in time for you to get to classes that meet at 1:25 p.m. All students, faculty, colleagues, and friends are welcome. For details; check the WebEvents Calendar. The WebEvents Calendar features, lectures, talks, and conferences from October 9 to November 12. Three members of our faculty and staff serve as College sexual harassment resource officers. These individuals may be contacted for confidential advice on matters relating to sexual harassment: Mel Mark, professor of psychology, 863-1755; Jennifer Morris, director of administrative services, 863-8426; and Deborah Clarke, associate professor of English and women's studies, 863-9592. Alternatively, the University Affirmative Action Office (863-0471) may be contacted directly. If you need to obtain or exchange parking permits, please come to Room 111 Sparks Building, Monday through Friday, from 9 to 11 a.m. and 2 to 4 p.m. only. Please remember to bring your license plate number(s) with you when you register for your permit. Once you have a permit, please be sure you report new or changed license plate numbers to Louise Sharrar at lsharrar@psu.edu or 865-7691. As a reminder, if you are leaving the College, you will need to return your parking permit to 111 Sparks Building. Benefits Open Houses and On-Line Enrollment In November you may make changes in your 2005 benefits package during the “Time To Choose” period. If you do not want to change your benefits, you do not need to do anything, unless you are participating in the Health Care or Dependent Care Reimbursement Options of the Flexible Benefits Program. If you participate in either of these programs, you are required to re-enroll every year. Faculty and staff are encouraged to make their benefits changes and re-enroll for flex benefits on-line by going to the Employee Benefits Web site (http://www.ohr.psu.edu/benefits/benefits.htm). This Web site will be available beginning November 1 and is also an excellent source of information concerning your benefits. In order to help you make informed benefits decisions, the following open houses will be held: Tuesday, November 9, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Heritage Hall, HUB Wednesday, November 10, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Alumni Ballroom, HUB Thursday, November 18, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Heritage Hall, HUB Representatives from the Employee Benefits Division, Health Plan providers, SERS, TIAA/CREF, the five tax deferred annuity companies, and prescription drug plans will be available to answer faculty and staff questions. In addition, informational group meetings will be held in rooms adjacent to the locations mentioned above. If you are unable to attend any of the Benefits Open Houses and have any benefits questions, please call the Employee Benefits Division at 865-1473. An informational session is being offered for college staff on Friday, October 15, from 9 to 10 a.m. in room 121 Sparks Building. Dean Welch will discuss college initiatives and directions, and Jennifer Morris will speak about human resources programs and initiatives. All staff members are invited to attend this informational program and to bring any questions you may have. Miesha Marzell-Arnold, academic counselor, undergraduate studies Elizabeth Brown, academic counselor, undergraduate studies Sherry Hoffman, staff assistant VI, psychology, Child and Adolescent Service System Program Laurie Johnson, staff assistant VI, French and Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese Alicia Pascua, staff assistant VI, African and African American Studies, labor studies and industrial relations, and women’s studies Bonnie Rossman, staff assistant VI, languages and literatures Jennifer Shultz, staff assistant V, sociology and crime, law and justice Kerry Wiessmann, project assistant, psychologySuzanne Bennett, advising/counseling assistant, psychology Bonnie Marshall, coordinator of volunteer engagement, alumni relations and development Christine Bundy, assistant coordinator contract and grants management, associate dean for research and graduate studies Brenda Gates, staff assistant VII, political science Kristie Kalvin, staff assistant VII, communications, arts and sciences and philosophyDanielle Guess, staff assistant VI, psychology, Child and Adolescent Service System Program Jeffrey Gugino, academic counselor, undergraduate studies Christine Hughes, academic counselor, undergraduate studies Joseph Mascitelli, microcomputer information specialist, Liberal Arts Computer Support Services (LACSS) Claudine Widmer, staff assistant VII, political scienceJoyce Flynn, administrative assistant I, African and African American Studies, labor studies and industrial relations, and women's studies LA Times is compiled by Louise Sharrar, Dean’s Office, 111 Sparks, 865-7691, lsharrar@psu.edu LA Times is also available on the Web at: http://www.la.psu.edu/ This publication is available in alternative media on request. Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please consult Louise Sharrar 814-865-7691 in advance of your participation or visit. The Pennsylvania State University is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal access to programs, facilities, admission, and employment without regard to personal characteristics not related to ability, performance, or qualifications as determined by University policy or by state or federal authorities. It is the policy of the University to maintain an academic and work environment free of discrimination, including harassment. The Pennsylvania State University prohibits discrimination and harassment against any person because of age, ancestry, color, disability or handicap, national origin, race, religious creed, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status. Discrimination or harassment against faculty, staff, or students will not be tolerated at The Pennsylvania State University. Direct all inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policy to the Affirmative Action Director, The Pennsylvania State University, 328 Boucke Building, University Park, PA 16802-5901; Tel 814-865-4700/V, 814-863-1150/TTY U. Ed. LBA 05-83 |
