News

Catherine Wanner, Professor of History, has been appointed to the Rick and Sue Barry Directorship of the Paterno Fellows Program in the College of the Liberal Arts at Penn State, beginning July 1. She will succeed Jack Selzer, who is the founding director of the College’s leadership program and who will return to teaching and research responsibilities as the Paterno Family Professor of Literature.

The Paterno Fellows Program is an academic excellence and leadership program for students in the College of the Liberal Arts, and a unique partnership between the College and the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State.  The program now has 160 graduates, and this fall, there will be more than 150 juniors, 200 sophomores, and 400 incoming freshmen who are pursuing the Paterno Fellow recognition.

Chris Long, Associate Dean for Undergraduate and Graduate Education and Professor of Philosophy and Classics, noted, “Cathy has been such a dedicated teacher and scholar in the College since 1996. I’m delighted she has agreed to lead the program and continue its success in providing challenging and fulfilling educational and career experiences for our undergraduates.”

The Barry Directorship was established by a leadership gift from Rick and Sue Barry, who are leading benefactors of the University. Rick is a 1980 graduate with a B.A. in political science and had a successful career in the financial industry. He retired as the managing director of Eastbourne Capital Management, a California-based hedge fund investment firm he founded in 1999. He is on the board and part owner of the San Diego Padres baseball team and a member of Penn State’s Campaign Executive Committee.

Professor Wanner teaches a variety of undergraduate courses including the comparative history of communism, modern Eastern European history, and religious studies. Graduate courses have spanned topics such as religion and secularization, modern European Imperial history, and the history of the Soviet Union. She is currently conducting research on how the politics of religion shaped regional, national, and civic allegiances in the USSR.

The Penn State historian is the author of several books including Burden of Dreams: History and Identity in Post-Soviet Ukraine and Communities of the Converted: Ukrainians and Global Evangelism; editor of State Secularism and Lived Religion in Soviet Russian and Ukraine; and co-editor of Religion, Morality and Community in Post-Soviet Societies. She is currently completing a book entitled Love Thy Neighbor: Rituals of Belonging in Ukraine. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, MacArthur Foundation, and Swiss National Science Foundation, as well as alumni support such as The Woskob Family Fund for Ukrainian Studies.

Professor Wanner joined Penn State in 1996 as a senior lecturer in the Department of Anthropology and was named Assistant Professor of History in 2001, Associate Professor in 2007, and Professor in 2011.  She earned a B.S., International Studies, from Franklin & Marshall College; and an M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology from Columbia University. She also has studied at the Université Paris IV and Universität Zürich.

Susan Welch, the Susan Welch Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts, said, “I want to express my appreciation to Jack, who had the vision to transform undergraduate education through the Paterno Fellows Program. He has done an amazing job, and we thank him every much for his commitment and hard work.  I look forward to working with him in his new role as the Paterno Family Professor in Literature, and with Cathy as our new Barry Director of the Paterno Fellows program. ”

Carol Reardon, the George Winfree Professor of American History, has teamed up with retired U.S. Army Col. Tom Vossler to create a new book "A Field Guide to Gettysburg," which offers new ways to look at key facets of the battle. Click here for the full story.

A farewell to retired Professor of French Alfred LeBlanc, who taught in the College of the Liberal Arts from 1963 until his retirement.   Click here for the full obituary.

Click here to view the spring 2013 ceremony or look for your favorite graduate!

In an interview, Amy Greenberg, the Edwin Erle Sparks Profesor of History and Women's Studies, reveals many details behind the Mexican American War and the impact on the long relationship between the U.S. and Mexico. Click here for the full story.

The Mexican Children of Immigrants Program is an interdisciplinary project involving eight primary researchers that examines the health, development, and healthcare access of this growing group of children. Started in 2011, and funded through 2015 by a grant from the Eunice Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the study is already beginning to produce results. Leading the program is Nancy Landale, Liberal Arts Research Professor of Sociology and Demography. Click here for the full story.

Scholarships are now available for area high school students and Pennsylvania college students who plan to study the Arabic language this summer at The Language Institute of Penn State.

In the intensive, four-week STARTALK Arabic Academy program, which meets Monday through Friday from June 13 to July 10, students can complete the equivalent of a full semester's study of Arabic and receive four academic credits for Penn State's Arabic 001 course. Morning classes are enhanced by activities including an afternoon immersion session and email or video partnerships with students in Tunisia who speak Arabic and are learning English. Click here for the full story.

For the first time, the College of the Liberal Arts will stream the commencement ceremony live on the web for families, friends, and graduates who cannot attend the ceremony at the Bryce Jordan Center, and for World Campus graduates and their families. The entire ceremony can be viewed at wpsu.org/live starting at 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 4 . Click here for the full story.

Congratulations to psychology junior Neil Meyer, who has been honored with the 2013 Outstanding Adult Learner Award from Penn State! The award recognizes an exceptional adult learner at the University Park campus who has begun or resumed their education after the age of 24, after being out of high school for four or more years, who demonstrates initiative in overcoming obstacles to furthering their education, while serving as a role model for other adult learners, achieving academic excellence and contributing to their community.

Click here for the full story.

Organizers of this year's Marathon Reading are inviting members of the Penn State community to help choose the book for the 24-hour event, starting at 1 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 5, on the Pattee-Paterno Library lawn. The event continues through the night until the reading is completed on Friday, Sept. 6.

The choices for the 2013 Marathon Reading are:
-- "The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson" by Emily Dickinson
-- "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
-- "The Odyssey" by Homer
-- "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
-- "Paradise Lost" by John Milton
-- "Ulysses" by James Joyce

To vote, go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/D72CVDV and make a selection by May 10.

The event will be sponsored by the College of the Liberal Arts, the Department of Comparative Literature, the Department of English, the Center for Democratic Deliberation and the Center for American Literary Studies.

For information please contact Sarah Denes at 814-863-4288 or marathonread@psu.edu.

A Penn State literary scholar, James L. W. West III, the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English, has played a key behind-the-scenes role as a consultant to the director and cast of the upcoming Warner Brothers film "The Great Gatsby."

Click here for a video of West discussing his connection to the film.

The film, starring Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan and Leonardo DeCaprio as Jay Gatsby, could lure a new audience to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel, which tells the story of a mysterious millionaire named Jay Gatsby who tries to win back the love of his life, Daisy, by buying a mansion near her Long Island home and throwing outrageous parties.

West is general editor of the Cambridge Edition of the Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, and published "Trimalchio: An Early Version of ‘The Great Gatsby’" in 2000. The film's director, Baz Luhrmann, contacted West to ask questions about historical features of the novel, such as the differences between the servants of Gatsby and the Buchanans, and the model of Gatsby’s car (it’s a Duesenberg, not a Rolls Royce.) The cast were required by Luhrmann to read "Trimalchio" as well as "The Great Gatsby."

West also is Director of the Penn State Center for the History of the Book and a faculty affiliate of The Center for American Literary Studies.

According to a Wall Street Journal article, DiCaprio's Gatsby seems more menacing and violent than his well-mannered literary counterpart. The Penn State scholar confirmed that a rougher version of Gatsby actually fits with Fitzgerald's original conception of the character. In "Trimalchio," Gatsby is “hiding a kind of violence in his nature, a ruthlessness, that you don't really see in 'The Great Gatsby,'" he said.

While "The Great Gatsby" was initially a commercial disappointment, the novel was later judged by some critics as Fitzgerald's finest work. In a letter to Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot called the novel "the first step that American fiction has taken since Henry James."

Click here for West's online essay "What Baz Luhrmann Asked Me About The Great Gatsby."

Congratulations to Judy Kroll, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Linguistics and Women’s Studies and director of Penn State’s Center for Language Science, for being named a Guggenheim Fellow.She is the only recipient from Penn State for 2013-2014.

Judy is a leader in the field of bilingualism and second-language acquisition. She was honored by Penn State during spring semester with the 2013 Faculty Scholar Medal for Outstanding Achievement in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Click here for the full story.

Last spring, Penn State had three Guggenheim Fellows, all of whom were faculty in the College of the Liberal Arts: Lori D. Ginzberg, Professor of History and Women’s Studies; Nina G. Jablonski, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology; and David A. Rosenbaum, Distinguished Professor of Psychology.

Skyrocketing interest in Japanese language and popular culture, and the country’s environmental, economic, and political issues demonstrates the vital impact of Japan’s contemporary global position. The Global Japan Project at Penn State will blaze new pathways for teaching and research to connect students and faculty in a wide variety of disciplines to their counterparts in Japan.

Thanks to significant support from the Japan Foundation and Penn State, the project will develop enhanced research, exchange, and networking opportunities for students and faculty in humanities, social sciences, education, business, and international affairs. The Asian Studies Program and the Center for Global Studies, both in the College of the Liberal Arts, will help forge links between Japanese studies and the College of Education, the School of International Affairs, and the Smeal Business College, as well as peer institutions in Japan.

"Through the Global Japan Project, we will recruit a new faculty member with expertise in the history of modern Japan and its role in 20th century global transformations," said Jonathan Abel, Principal Investigator and Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature and Asian Studies. "This will expand our core of five faculty scholars in Japanese studies and enhance our ability to train globally literate citizens who understand the nuances of Japan's position in our interconnected world."

Among the planned activities are to develop more courses in modern and contemporary Japanese history with a global focus to meet rising student demand, to expand the number of Japanese scholars attending the Global Asias conference and research workshops, and to support  visiting scholars from Japan to the Penn State campus. Another goal to assist other Penn State departments and universities without existing Japanese studies resources and area  K-12 schools in developing Japan-oriented course-units and projects.

The Global Japan Project also will develop embedded study abroad programs, which are short-term study abroad experiences offered as part of an academic course taught on campus. Faculty at Penn State and a partner institution in Japan will teach simultaneous courses on a select topic, with their students conversing and collaborating through web technologies. Then, Penn State students can travel to visit their peers in Japan and host them here. The Japan Foundation grant also supports scholarships for students pursuing longer study abroad programs.

The Japan Studies component of the Asian Studies Program already has strong enrollments in Japan-related undergraduate courses. The program enrolls 130 to 140 students in Japanese 001 each fall and reaches about 560 students a year at all levels of language, literary, and cultural courses. The Japanese major is the largest major in the Asian Studies Program, currently with 45 majors and 25 minors. More than 120 students a year take the general undergraduate courses on such topics as Japanese film or contemporary culture.

“By expanding opportunities for every Penn State student to learn about Japan, we can significantly improve their understanding of the country, culture, and society,” Dr. Abel said. “We will be educating future leaders in business, education, diplomacy, science, and media about Japan’s long history of international engagement and its participation in global politics, economics, and history.”

Michael Kulikowski, Professor of History and Classics and Head of the Department of History, has received a 2013 Collaborative Research Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies. He and Gavin Kelly, Associate Professor, University of Edinburgh, will publish The Landmark Ammianus Marcellinus, an accessible, critical translation of the understudied fourth-century historian, whose writings provide an invaluable window into the dynamics of the late Roman empire.

The fellowships were awarded to seven teams of scholars that cross boundaries of discipline, methodology and geography to undertake new research projects that will result in joint publications. The program, which is made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, aims to demonstrate the creative potential of collaborative research in the humanities and related social sciences.

ACLS, a private, nonprofit federation of 71 national scholarly organizations, is the preeminent representative of American scholarship in the humanities and related social sciences.

Lindsay F. Wells has been selected as the College of the Liberal Arts Student Marshal and will be the speaker at the spring commencement ceremony, at 6 p.m., Saturday, May 4, at the Bryce Jordan Center.

A Schreyer Scholar and Paterno Fellow, she has three majors: Classics & Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Art History, and Medieval Studies. She studied abroad at the University of Oxford in England, interned with the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Boydell & Brewer Ltd. Publishing, and the Palmer Museum of Art.

Lindsay  participated as a student representative on the Global Experiences Panel and the Penn State Medieval Studies Committee, performed with the Penn State Thespians and No Refund Theatre, and volunteered as the co-founder and leader of the Children's Literature Circle and as a mentor for SHOtime & Gateway Orientation activities. She is the daughter of Ted Wells and Holly Foertsch of Pittsford, NY.

More information is at: http://laus.la.psu.edu/current-students/academics/commencement

Congratulations to T.J. Bard, a senior majoring in economics and political science, for being selected as the  2013 recipient of the Eric A. Walker Award. T.J. held numerous leadership roles in student organizations and University groups. The award is presented annually to the student who has contributed most to enhancing the reputation of the University through extracurricular activities. Dr. Walker was president of Penn State from 1956 to 1970.

Click here for the full Penn State story.

Kudos to Nicole Laliberté, a doctoral candidate in geography and women’s studies, one of the winners of the 2013 W. LaMarr Kopp International Achievement Award for graduate students. The award recognizes graduate students who have contributed significantly to the advancement of the international mission of the University.

Click here for the full Penn State story.

The College is proud to announce that Gizelle Studevent, a crime, law and justice major and a member of the Lady Lions basketball team, has received the 2013 John W. Oswald Award for excellence in athletics. The award annually recognizes graduating seniors who have provided outstanding leadership in at least one of several areas of activity at the University. The award is named after John W. Oswald, president of the University from 1970 to 1983.

Click here for the full Penn State story.

Congratulations to the Liberal Arts graduate students who received the 2013 Harold F. Martin Graduate Assistant Outstanding Teaching Awards!  More than half of the 10 winners came from the College of the Liberal Arts:

Lindsey Aloia, communication arts and sciences; Michelle Decker, comparative literature; Sandra Rousseau, French; Sarah RudeWalker, English; Juliane Schicker, German; and Sarah Summers, English.

Click here for the full Penn State story.

Congratulations to Sarah Summers, graduate student in the Department of English, for earning first place in the Arts and Humanities division at the 2013 Graduate Exhibition! Sarah's project, "Graduate Writing Center: Programs, Practices, Possibilities" was deemed the strongest in the category by judges evaluating both her poster and oral presentation.

Liberal Arts graduate students took six of the remaining fourteen awards in the Arts and Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences divisions. Brittany Bloodhart, Department of Psychology, earned second place in the Social and Behavioral Sciences, and third finishes in their divisions went to Sandra Rousseau (French), Chason Coelho (Psychology), Victoria Merritt (Psychology), Amanda Parks (Political Science), and Lindsey Aloia (Communication Arts and Sciences).

Esprit Award

Barbara Cox, Administrative Assistant, Justice Center for Research

Exceptional Service Award

Betty Blair, Administrative Support Assistant, Department of Anthropology

Rising Star Award

Sarah Denes, Administrative Support Assistant, School of Languages and Literatures

Jessica Fatica, Administrative Support Assistant, Office of the Dean

Amanda Goble, Grants Specialist, Child Study Center

Dawn Noren, Administrative Support Assistant, Africana Research Center

LASER Award

Amy Barone, Administrative Support Coordinator, Department of English

Cathy Holsing, Director, Learning Design Unit, Outreach and Online Education

Katelyn Perry, Academic Adviser, Office of Undergraduate Studies

Outstanding Teamwork Award

A joint team from the Psychology Department, Information Technology, and the Dean’s Office for the successful planning and coordination of the department’s move to the new Moore Building

Members: Psychology’s Judy Bowman, Sue Koble, Mona Muzzio, Elaine Prestia, and Shannon Ranio; IT’s Jason Tisdale and Shane Freehauf; and Chris Hort, Assistant Director of Administrative Services

Congratulations to the distinguished faculty who received the following teaching, research, and service awards from the University today (March 25):

Milton S. Eisenhower Award for Outstanding Teaching: Alicia Grandey, Associate Professor of Psychology

The Alumni/Student Award for Excellence in Teaching: Julia Kasdorf, Professor of English and Women's Studies (Penn State Teaching Fellow)

Faculty Scholar Medal in Social and Behavioral Sciences: Judith Kroll, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Linguistics, and Women’s Studies

Howard B. Palmer Faculty Mentoring Award: Nan Woodruff, Professor of African American and U.S. History

Graduate Faculty Teaching Award: John Christman, Professor of Philosophy

Graduate Program Chair Leadership: Barry Lee, Director of Graduate Program in Sociology and Professor of Sociology and Demography

Congratulations to the accomplished faculty who received the following teaching, research, and service awards from the College of the Liberal Arts:

Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award: Janet Lyon, Associate Professor of English and Women’s Studies

Outstanding Teaching Award for Tenure-Line Faculty: Tobias Brinkmann, the Malvin and Lea Bank Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and History

Stephanie J. Pavouček Shields Faculty Award: Lori Ginzberg,  Professor of History and Women’s Studies

Class of 1933 Distinction in the Humanities Award: James L.W. West III, the Edwin Earle Sparks Professor of English

Distinction in the Social Sciences Award: John Lipski, the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Spanish Linguistics

Emeritus Distinction Award: John Moore Jr., Associate Professor Emeritus, English and Comparative Literature

Roy C. Buck Award: Jenny Trinitapoli, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Demography, and Religious Studies

Outstanding Teaching Award for Non-Tenure Line Faculty: Robin Kramer, Lecturer in Communication Arts and Sciences

Service to the College Award: Karen Johnson, William J. and Catherine Kirby Professor in Language Learning and Applied Linguistics

From its original mission of interpreting and reflecting on the transformative experience of the Civil War itself, the Richards Center faculty and graduate students have expanded their scholarship to encompassing themes spanning Atlantic World slavery, emancipation, constitutionalism, the expansion of democracy, religion and social movements, women's rights, immigration, western expansionism, war and society, and the struggles of labor. "So much of what we find," Richards Center Director William Blair said, "overturns what was thought to be true."  Click here for the full story.

Gene and Roz Chaiken have made the dreams of a Penn State education come true for more than 150 Liberal Arts students through a Trustee Scholarship they created five years ago.  But with the growing financial challenges facing students and their families, the Chaikens are determined to help even more Penn State students by establishing one of the first Trustee Scholarships to earn a 10 percent annual match from the University with a gift of $2 million. Click here for the full story.

http://news.psu.edu/story/267684/2013/03/07/administration/chaikens-make-2-million-gift-new-trustee-scholarship

Examining the networks of people who create Improvised Explosive Devices, or IEDs, can provide important insights into the growing phenomenon of IED use by violent non-state actors around the world, according to researchers at the International Center for the Study of Terrorism (ICST) at Penn State.

“The IED is the signature tool of today’s insurgent,” explains John Horgan, ICST’s director. “Though most discussions about IEDs focus on their technical features, the development and diffusion of IEDs represent a type of ‘social activity.’ Even the simplest IED attack will involve multiple participants, each of whom plays a critical role in its development and execution. To be able to find new and creative ways to prevent and disrupt the IED process, we need to understand who is involved and what their roles entail.”

Researchers at ICST, in conjunction with partners at the State University of New York at Albany, American University and the University of Miami, recently concluded a three-and-a-half-year project examining 28 years of IED activity in Northern Ireland. The project, titled “From Bomb to Bomb-maker: A Social Network Analysis Model of the Socio-Psychological and Cultural Dynamics of the IED Process,” was the first systematic research effort on the IED process in Northern Ireland. Its other primary objective was to lay a solid foundation for further research on IED networks in Afghanistan and other operational theaters.

Read more here.

For more information, or media inquiries, contact Kate Slavens, ICST research project manager, 325 Pond Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802, at 814-863-9550 or kes37@psu.edu.

Penn State’s Migration Studies Project has won a research grant from the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) for a study of communication and identity among skilled migrants. WUN is providing major funding, with matching support from participating universities, for a total of nearly $60,000.

Dr. Suresh Canagarajah, Director of the Migration Studies Project and the Edwin Earle Sparks Professor of Applied Linguistics, English, and Asian Studies, is the Principal Investigator, with co-PI’s from eight universities in the United Kingdom, Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa, and U.S.

The researchers will interview skilled migrants from a dominant professional community in their own locations. The multi-sited study will help understand the differences between national groups in different work contexts to develop a comparative perspective.

Click here for full story.

Joseph G. Price, Professor Emeritus of English and a scholar in Shakespearean drama

Click here for the full obituary. 

Deborah Austin, Professor Emeritus of English and a scholar in 19th-century British literature

Click here for the full obituary.

Three faculty recently were awarded National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships to continue their research projects. The National Endowment for the Humanities promotes excellence in humanities teaching and research.

Dr. Amy Greenberg, the Edwin Earle Sparks Professor of History and Women’s Studies, will complete a book manuscript on how political dissent shaped the ultimate territorial boundaries of the nation.

Dr. Ann E. Killebrew, Associate Professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Jewish Studies, and Anthropology, will conduct research at the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem.

Dr. James L. W. West III, the Edwin Earle Sparks Professor of English, will continue working on a book about American author F. Scott Fitzgerald and his successes in the 1920s literary marketplace. His research will include studying Fitzgerald’s correspondence and manuscripts, as well as financial records at Princeton University.

The life and work of prominent labor and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez will be the focus of a Feb. 14 symposium at Penn State and a photography exhibit at the Art Alley of the HUB-Robeson Center on the University Park campus. The events are co-sponsored by Penn State’s Center for Democratic Deliberation and the Institute for the Arts and Humanities and are free to the public.

From now through Feb. 24, the Art Alley is hosting “In His Own Words: The Life and Work of Cesar Chavez,” an exhibition of photographs and autobiographical reflections produced by Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Featuring 38 photographs paired with personal recollections, “In His Own Words” examines the values and experiences that drove Chavez to work tirelessly to improve the lives of American farm workers, in the process becoming one of the most influential labor and civil rights leaders of the 20th century.

Click here for more information.

James Lantolf, director of The Center for Language Acquisition and the Greer Professor of Language Acquisition and Applied Linguistics, will represent Penn State on a new World Universities Network (WUN) Language Assessment Research Network (LARN), along with six other universities from China, United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia. WUN is providing major funding, with matching support from each participating university, for a total of nearly $70,000.

He and Matthew Poehner, assistant professor of World Languages and Applied Linguistics, in the College of Education, will be the Penn State principal investigators in the network.  LARN will be the first research network on language assessment in the world that brings together research-intensive universities at this scale. The member institutions will collaborate on a wide range of research areas, practices, and outreach in the study of language assessment, which requires expertise in linguistics, statistics, psychology, psychometrics, human learning and instruction, and assessment technologies, just to name a few.

Click here for the full story.

The College of the Liberal Arts has lost a friend whose leadership and philanthropy played a major role in its attainment of leadership in the liberal arts. Ann Marie Stiegler Richards of Simsbury, CT, died Jan. 26, 2013, at the age of 78 from injuries related to a fall.

She and her husband, George, a 1954 graduate of Penn State, made a significant gift to the Civil War Era Center in 2002, providing critical funding for graduate student and faculty research, as well as outreach programs for students and teachers.  Because of the magnitude of the Richards' gift, Penn State elected to name the Center in their honor. Today, the George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center is a leader in the study of America’s struggles for freedom.

George and Ann also established a Trustee Scholarship in Honor of Dean Susan Welch in the College of the Liberal Arts. In the College of Communications, they endowed the Bart Richards Award in Media Criticism to honor George's father.

Click here for more information.

The Center for Democratic Deliberation (CDD) has been awarded a $334,000 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Challenge Grant to continue and expand its successful initiatives in education, research, and public outreach and to become a national leader in the field of deliberative democracy in the 21^st century.  The College of the Liberal Arts and The Center for Democratic Deliberation will pursue philanthropic efforts to raise matching funds of $1 million to extend the work and influence of the Center in civic education and rhetorical scholarship and outreach nationally and internationally.

“With the help of the NEH Challenge Grant and the philanthropic support of alumni and friends, we plan to create a permanent endowment for the CDD, supporting both ongoing projects and new initiatives in research, public scholarship, rhetorical and civic education, and new media,” says J. Michael Hogan, CDD co-director and the Liberal Arts Research Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences.

The collapse of bipartisanship in Washington, D.C., and state capitals threatens the health of our economy and our nation.  As a partner in the Penn State Democracy Institute, The Center for Democratic Deliberation plans to continue developing new knowledge and training for legislators, policymakers, voters, and students to improve debate, discussion,  and governing on key issues such the debt ceiling and gun control legislation.

Since its founding in 2006, the CDD has had a significant impact on undergraduate and graduate education at Penn State, experimenting with changes to basic speaking and writing courses.  This fall, under the leadership of CDD co-director Debra Hawhee, the Center debuted a two-semester honors course combining writing and public speaking and focusing on written, oral, and digital modes of communication on civic and political issues.

CDD began as a collaborative partnership between prominent faculty in English and communication arts and sciences who are experts in rhetoric studies.  Today, about fifty Penn State faculty from across many disciplines including political science and information technologies are affiliated with the Center.  Among its projects is Voices of Democracy, an online resource with texts, audio and video clips, and other materials for undergraduate college teachers nationwide to build classroom lessons around great speeches and debates in U.S. history.  In collaboration with the National Constitution Center, CDD faculty has helped to develop high-school programs using Internet videoconferencing technologies to bring together diverse group of students nationwide to discuss Constitutional controversies.

Dr. Hogan, who is the principal investigator on the grant, said, “The NEH Challenge Grant will enable us to expand future themes such as how the rhetorics of religion and science inform or confuse public issues, and when does protest and dissent undermine deliberation or become coercive?  The next step is to build on existing strengths and develop opportunities using the latest information technologies, including cloud-based technologies and Web2.0 social networking and gaming tools, to promote a new vision of civic learning and engagement. “

The College of the Liberal Arts at Penn State has a tradition of successfully raising matching funds for NEH Challenge Grants to support the Richards Civil War Era Center and the Institute for the Arts and Humanities in their pursuit of national leadership in their fields.

For more information, go to the CDD website at http://cdd.la.psu.edu/ or to the Penn State Democracy Institute website at  http://democracyinstitute.la.psu.edu/

Approximately 138 new Paterno Fellows were recently inducted into the Liberal Arts leadership program at the third annual recognition ceremony.

The Paterno Fellows Program is a unique partnership between the College of the Liberal Arts and the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State. Jack Selzer, the Barry Director of the Paterno Fellows Program, said, “The program challenges Liberal Arts students to outstanding performance and offers them benefits when they meet those challenges. It’s an education for leadership in the best tradition of the liberal arts.”

Since its founding in 2008, approximately 400 first-year Liberal Arts students have been signing on each year for “the Paterno challenge.” Since then, at least 100 students each year have earned the right to become Fellows and Schreyer Scholars by taking required honors courses and achieving a high GPA.

Once they are inducted as Fellows, these students also commit to completing a series of additional challenges, including a second major, an excellence in communications certificate or advanced foreign language study, an ethics course, and a capstone research project. They also complete a leadership or service commitment and complete a prestigious internship or study abroad experience. In return, Fellows receive benefits such as funding for study abroad or research or an ambitious internship, and they receive special learning and networking opportunities. In short, the Paterno Fellows exemplify the values of excellence, service, and leadership championed by the Paterno family, who have been major supporters of the program.

Student speaker Brian Prewitt, who is a double major in political science and crime, law, and justice, said, “It has become an experience that changed my life. Not only have I met many members of the Paterno Family, but I’ve also gotten to interact with some of the top academics at our University. A few months ago, I had the privilege of talking with alumnus Frank Coonelly (president of the Pittsburgh Pirates) about our program. But maybe the most important advantage is the research and travel grants that the program provides. Doing research has been an unbelievably enriching experience. “

The evening’s program also included remarks from Penn State women’s volleyball coach Russ Rose and Bucknell University poet Jamaal May.

We are sad to share the following news and express our condolences to members of our Liberal Arts family:

Gerald Eggert, long-time history faculty member who specialized in American businesss and labor history from 1965 to 1991. In 1994, Gerald received the Liberal Arts College Alumni Society Emeritus Distinction Award.

Mack Brady, young son of Elizabeth and Chris Brady. Elizabeth is a lecturer in Classics and Mediterrean Studies Department, and Chris also is a member of the department, as well as being dean of the Schreyer Honors College.

Dr. Larry Jacobs, a nationally renowned expert on political representation, will give the Penn State Democracy Institute’s inaugural lecture, “The Paradox of Polling: An Aid to Deliberation and Democratic Responsiveness or A Tool for Manipulation?”, on Tuesday, Jan. 15, starting at  7 p.m. in 112 Kern Building, on Penn State’s University Park campus.

Professor Jacobs is the Walter F. and Joan Mondale Chair for Political Studies and director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance in the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute and Department of Political Science at the University of Minnesota. He will offer insight on the disconnect between politicians and the public on effective policies.

His research examines political representation – the nature and formation of public opinion, whether and how government responds to the public’s policy preferences and other evaluations, and the adaptation of government policy to the changing conditions and circumstances facing Americans. Professor Jacobs has co-written 12 books including a comprehensive review of the Obama administration’s policy record, Reaching for the New Deal: President Obama's Agenda and the Dynamics of U.S. Politics. Another book is Class War? What Americans Really Think about Economic Inequality.

Based in the College of the Liberal Arts, the Penn State Democracy Institute brings together the top faculty and graduate students in several disciplines to develop knowledge and training that will provide legislators, policymakers, voters, and the public with better ways to improve debate, discussions, and governing in our country. Through teaching, creative research projects, and public programs, the Democracy Institute will explore better routes to deciding controversial issues, like healthcare and environmental regulation, and address how government can become more responsive to the people.

For more information on the Democracy Institute web site, go to:  http://democracyinstitute.la.psu.edu/

In a new book, Sophia McClennen, professor of international affairs and comparative literature, writes how TV satirists like Stephen Colbert are playing an important role in American democracy.

Read more on Penn State Live.

Read about the award winners here.

We are sad to report the death of Professor Kumkum Chatterjee on December 13, 2012. She will be remembered throughout the College and in her departments of history and Asian studies as a great teacher, scholar, and colleague.

Professor Chatterjee's obituary.

Six of the top students from the course, Communication Arts and Sciences 100A: Effective Speech, spoke on issues of civic importance for a public audience and panel of judges on December 10th.

1st Place

Shayna Levenson: Engineering a Solution to Hospital Acquired Infections (Melissa Marshall)

2nd Place

Tara Gaab: White Nose Syndrome: Killing Our Nation's Bats (Robin Kramer)

3rd Place

Jessica Arnold: Pennsylvania Integrative Education: A PIE to Preserve the Arts. (Marcy Milhomme)

Honorable Mention

Lukas Baker: Hydraulic Fracturing and the Marcellus Shale Formation (Mark Kohler)

David DeFelice: Saving the Endangered Species Act: An Inventive-based solution (Eric Meczkowski)

Ericka Roberts: Giving them What they Deserve: Changing PTSD Acceptance Rates for Veterans.(Amanda Goodwin)

The International Center for the Study of Terrorism will welcome Abdul Hye, one of the leading crisis negotiation experts in the United Kingtom, as a Fulbright Scholar to conduct research on techniques that complements already-established crisis and hostage negotiation practices and methodology.

Click here for the full story.

The International Center for the Study of Terrorism has provided life-changing educational and career enrichment experiences for more than 350 Penn State undergraduates who served as interns or assistants for numerous externally funded research projects since the center’s inception in 2006.The internships have attracted dozens of undergraduate students each semester from the College of the Liberal Arts and other academic colleges because of the opportunities to work on timely issues facing our society. Click here for the full story.

Read more.

Cortney Stevens of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., has been selected as the student marshal for Penn State's College of the Liberal Arts for the fall undergraduate commencement ceremony on December 22, 2012.  She will graduate with B.A. degrees in Psychology, Spanish, and Global and International Studies, and has selected Melanie Archangeli, Lecturer in Spanish, as her faculty marshal at the ceremony.

http://blogs.la.psu.edu/laus/2012/12/cortney-stevens-named-college-marshal.html

The Penn State Rock Ethics Institute announces a call for nominations for its Sixth Annual Stand Up Awards in recognition of undergraduate students at Penn State’s campuses who have demonstrated ethical leadership in taking a stand for a person, cause, or belief. The deadline for nominations is January 24th, 2013. Awardees will be honored at a ceremony on April 21st, 2013.

Six of the top students from the course, Communication Arts and Sciences 100A: Effective Speech, will speak on issues of civic importance for a public audience and panel of judges at 7 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 10, in Business 110, on Penn State’s University Park campus. The speakers are competing in the final round of the semi-annual Civic Engagement Public Speaking Contest, organized by the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences and the Center for Democratic Deliberation at Penn State.

The competitive event is open to the public, and held at the end of every semester to recognize the best public speakers in CAS 100A, who have been chosen by their own classmates as candidates to enter the contest. Winners will be awarded cash prizes from The New York Times and Pearson Learning Solutions at a reception immediately following the event.

The judges are Emily Rimland, Information Literacy Librarian at Penn State’s University Libraries; Elaine Meder-Wilgus,  community coordinator and owner of Webster’s Bookstore Cafe; Christine Patterson from The New York Times; and Jeff Goldman of Pearson.

The finale student speakers were selected by panels of CAS 100A instructors during the preliminary and second rounds of the contest on Dec. 3. The topics and speakers for this final round will be revealed the night of the contest finale on Dec. 10.

Previous speakers have addressed such issues as: child soldiers’ rehabilitation; how individuals can impact recycling in their community; anabolic steroid use; depression as disease; disabilities and workers’ rights; social networking and privacy; modern slavery; puppy mills; fraud in for-profit schools; football head injuries; and domestic violence.

Contest sponsors are the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences, the Center for Democratic Deliberation, The New York Times, and Pearson. For more information, contact Holly Gates at holly.a.gates@psu.edu

Information on policies, benefits, services and other related matters of the
University can be found in the Faculty Handbook, Part-Time Faculty Handbook
and Staff Employee Handbook, all of which are online.

-- The Faculty Handbook can be found at

http://www.psu.edu/provost/FacultyHandbook.

-- The Part-Time Faculty Handbook can be found at

http://www.psu.edu/vpaa/pdfs/pt_faculty_handbook.pdf.

-- The Staff Employee Handbook can be found at

http://ohr.psu.edu/assets/employee-relations/documents/Staffhandbook.pdf.

Read the full story on Live: http://live.psu.edu/story/62850#nw4

"I do not think there was ever a more wicked war than that waged by the United States on Mexico," wrote Ulysses S. Grant in 1879. Grant knew something about war, having served as a lieutenant in the conflict with Mexico and as the North's most victorious general in the Civil War. Although he is not a key figure in Amy Greenberg's new book, "A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico," (Alfred A. Knopf) his view aptly illustrates her main point: the U.S.-Mexican War was opposed by a large segment of the American people, including many of those who actually fought in it.

The war gave rise to the first truly national anti-war movement in the United States, according to Greenberg, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of History and Women's Studies at Penn State. It far surpassed opposition to the War of 1812, largely confined to New England. Both the war with Mexico and the anti-war movement of the 1840s, Greenberg writes, helped to shape national values and "to this day affects how the United States acts in the world."

Read more at Penn State Live.

An international team of researchers from 23 institutions across three continents has identified two genetic factors that are strongly associated with the most common form of non-syndromic craniosynostosis -- premature closure of the bony plates of the skull. The team of geneticists, pediatricians, surgeons and epidemiologists includes Joan Richtsmeier, professor of anthropology at Penn State, and Yann Heuzé, a post-doc in the Richtsmeier lab.

Read more on Penn State Live.

A team of researchers headed by Penn State anthropologist Joan Richtsmeier will use genetically engineered mice and 3D imaging technology to study the development of the human midface – upper jaw, cheekbones, and eye sockets – and how diseases and abnormalities of the head affect the growth and shape of the face. The work is being funded by a new $2.3 million five-year grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, which is part of the prestigious National Institutes of Health.

Read more at Penn State Live.