May 2022 | Issue 17
NEXT ISSUE: August 2022
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COLLEGE OF ARTS AND LETTERS
CAL Celebrates Top Spring 2022 Graduates
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Yaniah Curry, winner of the UToledo College of Arts and Letters Outstanding Student Award. She is pictured with Dr. Linda Rouillard, the chair of the Department of World Languages and Cultures (left), and the Interim CAL Dean, Dr. Melissa Gregory.
The UToledo College of Arts and Letters celebrated its top graduates at the Spring 2022 Honors and Awards Ceremony the evening before commencement. Students were recognized for earning departmental honors and Latin honors (cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude). The college also recognized the Outstanding Student from each department and program area. From that group, Yaniah Curry, a Spanish major and member of the Lady Rockets basketball team, was chosen as the Outstanding Student for the college.
Morgan Zickes, a political science major, received the CAL 2022 Student Leadership Award. Zickes volunteered extensively with political campaigns and multiple social service-related non-profit organizations. After fundraising and serving as a volunteer for the Camp Kesem summer camp program at the University of Notre Dame in 2020, Morgan led a successful effort to start a local chapter at UToledo during the organization’s national expansion campaign. Camp Kesem is a national non-profit that serves children affected by a parent’s cancer.
Dean's Prize Winners
(Pictured with Dr. Melissa Gregory, Interim Dean, College of Arts and Letters)
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Davion Desean Williams
Double Major: Law and Social Thought, English
Short Prose Essay Winner for
"Admittance"
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Hannah Myers
Dual Major: English, Adolescent and Young Adult Education
Long Prose Essay Winner for
"Stop Counting Beans: Why Project-Based Learning Isn't being Used in High School Composition Courses and What We Need to Do About It"
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Daria Sysoeva
Dual Major: English, Visual Arts
Creative Work winner for
"Sylvia Plathness"
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DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE AND FILM
Professor's Work Lights Up Sports World
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UToledo lighting professor, Stephen Sakowski, lit up the NBA in February, literally. "Alongside Lighting Designer Otis Howard, I served as the lighting director and spotlight coordinator for all of the events over the 2022 NBA All Star Weekend (February) including the All Star Saturday Night competitions, which included the Slam Dunk Contest, the skills competition and the 3 Point Contest. We also designed the lighting for a Saturday night performance by DJ Khaled (with guest appearances), the national anthem and the halftime celebration of the 75 greatest NBA players in league history." |
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DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
English Professor's Book Shows How Writing Teachers Impact Education Policy
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Tyler Branson's book, "Policy Regimes: College Writing and Public Education Policy in the United States," was published by Southern Illinois University Press. Branson argues the classroom is where teachers leverage disciplinary knowledge about writing to bridge, partner with, support, and sometimes resist education policies. |
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DEPARTMENT OF ART
Bioluminescence Outshines Others at Biodeisgn Challenge Competition
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LuminArbor Team (left to right) Chinmaya (Bioengineering major), Alex Mcdonnell (Earth, Ecology and Environmental Science major, Art minor), Nash Benton (Civil Engineering major, Entrepreneurship, Family and Small Business Minor), Huriyyah Chaudhry (Bioengineering major).
Four teams, each a combination of University of Toledo art, environmental science, and engineering students, competed to see which team delivered the best concept for using art, design, science, and bioengineering to resolve a real-world problem of their choice. This year’s winning team, LumniArbor, presented bioluminescent trees as its solution for both light pollution and the lack of lighting in regions of the world with limited resources. The trees, which would be genetically altered to have bioluminescent leaves, would replace existing outdoor lighting in a speculative future. The team argued that, while being bright enough to see by, they would not interfere with the circadian rhythms of nocturnal plants and animals, unlike electrical lighting.
The LumniArbor team advances to the international Biodesign Challenge competition to be held this June.
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DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC
Annual Competition Recognizes Student Composers
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The Student Composition Contest, presented by the UToledo Department of Music and Craig's Keyboards and Pianos, celebrates young music composers in high school and college. This year's winners are: And We're Off! by Lucas Flanagan (college division); and Flying Through The Canyon by Benjamin Hsiao (high school division). 2022 judges, Norm Damschroder (UToledo music lecturer and director of the University Orchestra), Luke Rosen (local composer and arranger), and Pete Ford (keyboardist, composer, educator at Adrian College). |
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PUBLISHING, CREATIVE ACTIVITY, AWARDS & MORE |
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PUBLISHING AND CREATIVE ACTIVITY
Art faculty member, Eric Zeigler, will have his work shown this summer in an international photography exhibition. The exhibition, curated by LoosenArt, will be shown at Millepiani in Rome, Italy August 4-12.
Thor Mednick (Department of Art) co-edited the book "Culture and Conflict Nation-Building in Denmark and Scandinavia, 1800–1930" published by Aarhus University Press.
Joey Kim (Department of English Language and Literature) published "'One deep heart wrung!' Felicia Hemans's Affective Poetics in "The Indian City" and "Woman on the Field of Battle," in Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies Journal.
Joey Kim and Ayendy Bonifacio (Department of English Language and Literature) both gave online poetry readings for the Sacramento State Festival of the Arts at California State University, Sacramento in April.
Dr. Karen Roderick Lingeman (Department of Art) had work selected to display in the 24th San Angelo National Ceramic Competition at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts. Out of 950 submissions only 116 were accepted. In her artist's statement, she said, "The possibilities of 3D printing with clay are amazing. The experience of making the three dimensional clay printer and then subverting that tool to the point of removing most of it, gives me the creative and physical experience I desire."
AWARDS
Several College of Arts and Letters faculty were honored this month at the Scholarly and Creative Activity Reception, presented by the UToledo Provost Office. They are among a select group of faculty members with publications or creative works that have received national recognition and acclaim during this period.
- Jeffrey Broxmeyer (Political Science and Public Administration)
- Allyson Day (Disability Studies)
- Jon Elhai (Psychology)
- Matthew Foss (Theatre and Film)
- Kim Gratz (Psychology)
- Kimberly Mack (English Language and Literature)
- Deborah Orloff (Art)
- Jason Rose (Psychology)
- Matthew Tull (Psychology)
Two former UT:10 students, Keegan Shannon (Media Communication '21) and Becca Lustic (Theatre '21) were honored as Mark of Excellence Award finalists for Region 4 of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Shannon was a finalist in the Food/Restaurant Journalism category for: "UT:10 extra! Keegan's Restaurant Reviews." Lustic was a finalist in the Video Game/Tabletop Game Reporting category for: "Game over! No vaccine, no service?"
CONGRATULATIONS
College of Arts and Letters Faculty Promotions
Faculty who received tenure and were promoted to associate professor:
- Dr. Tyler Branson, English, Language and Literature
- Dr. Shara Crookston, Women’s and Gender Studies
- Dr. Tasha Dunn, Communication
- Dr. Onur Sapci, Economics
Faculty members who achieved promotion to professor:
- Dr. Asma Abdel Halim, Women’s and Gender Studies
- Dr. Thor Mednick, Art
- Dr. Benjamin Stroud, English, Language and Literature
Art students of Debra Davis are earning money for their work. A recent show of their paintings at Toledo's Imagination Station led to the organization purchasing the students' work - all of it! They are buying 12 pieces, for approximately $1,250 - paid to our students directly.
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Dr. Matthew Tull, a psychology professor, talks about the clinical diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Dr. Jeff Broxmeyer, an associate professor of political science, discusses union strength, numbers and voting patterns in northwest Ohio.
Dr. Jeffrey Broxmeyer, an associate professor of political science, discusses the upcoming general election race to represent the redrawn Ninth Congressional District.
Dr. Sam Nelson, associate professor and chair of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, discusses the 14th Amendment and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Dr. Sujata Shetty, director of the Jack Ford Urban Affairs Center and professor in the Department of Geography and Planning, discusses how climate change will hurt low-income and minority communities living in “urban heat islands.”
Brian Carpenter, assistant professor of 3D design and interdisciplinary art, talks about an art program with high school students from the Achieve Academy.
Amber Rank, a University of Toledo student and secretary of the Sexuality and Gender Alliance, and Sharon Barnes, an associate professor, chair of Women’s and Gender Studies, and a member of the LGBT Advisory Board at the University, comment on support for the policy at UToledo.
Women’s and Gender Studies professor and chair, Sharon Barnes, discusses what this would mean to some of her students. The proposed policy states “an individual’s Chosen First Name must be used by all UToledo students, staff, and faculty in all communications.”
Dr. Sam Nelson, associate professor and chair of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, discusses the competition for the U.S. Senate seat in Ohio ahead of Tuesday’s primary election.
Barbara Miner, professor and chair of the Department of Art, and Dr. Ashley Pryor, associate professor of humanities, discuss “The Holding Project” on display in Carlson Library through April 29.
WTOL anchor Tiffany Tarpley talks about her visit to an advanced television production class at UToledo.
Dr. Gaby Semaan, associate professor of Arabic and director of Middle East Studies, discusses the history of hummus during Arab American Heritage Month.
Dr. Jeanine Diller, professor of philosophy and religious studies, talks about the meaning of throwing colored powder.
Dr. Gaby Semaan, associate professor of Arabic and director of Middle East Studies, discusses clothing preferences of Muslim and Arab women.
Dr. Samir Abu Absi, a professor emeritus of English, and UToledo students discuss the culture and contributions of Arab Americans in the city of Toledo.
Dr. Sam Nelson, associate professor and chair of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, discusses the U.S. Senate race in Ohio.
Dr. Peter Feldmeier, the Murray/Bacik Professor of Catholic Studies, discusses the benefits of daily prayer.
The University of Toledo Department of Theatre and Film will host the Student Filmmakers Showcase Saturday, April 30, at the UToledo Center for Performing Arts.
Dr. Sharon Barnes and Dr. Renee Heberle from the Department of Women's and Gender Studies discuss the state of gender and leadership in our world today.
Maggie Bennekamper shifted to psychology research after taking a social psychology class and spending time in the Social Health Lab run by Dr. Andrew Geers.
Kyle Jakob, who will receive his bachelor’s degree in communication studies, said his 3 1/2 years in the Army helped prepare him for the rigors of higher education.
UToledo faculty and students at the Urban Affairs Center used GIS (Geographic Information Systems), led by Dr. Sujata Shetty, director of the Jack Ford Urban Affairs Center and professor in the UToledo Department of Geography and Planning, create a virtual map that users can access via their cell phones and computers to plot routes for walking, biking and even riding the bus to Toledo-area artworks.
Ariana Vidaña, a UToledo Ph.D. student who graduated this semester, will continue her training with an internship at the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System. Dr. Matthew Tull, a professor of psychology at UToledo and Vidaña’s faculty advisor, said the VA Boston program is one of the most coveted and competitive internship programs in the country.
Barbara Miner, professor and chair of the Department of Art, helped develop a collaborative, interdisciplinary artwork that combines art, writing and social justice.
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DEPARTMENT OF ART
Exhibit: Man of the City - Now through July 31
UToledo Center for the Visual Arts
The University of Toledo Department of Art will exhibit Achieve Career Preparatory Academy student works of art now through July 31 in the Center of Visual Arts at the Toledo Museum of Art campus. Thirty individual students from Achieve have developed works on Canvas and 3D sculptures.
The University of Toledo, Achieve Career Preparatory Academy and Unbounded Artist Development Community have collaborated with John Sauve artist in residence at both UToledo and BGSU to coordinate this project with the students. The students created small scale individual Man in The City sculptures or two dimensional works investigating their personal thoughts, ideas, belief and goals.
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DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC
UToledo Center for Performing Arts
A chance to keep up your skills and play great string orchestra music in early summer. Open to college, high school, and community string players. Rehearses Tuesday and Thursday evenings, 7-8:30 p.m. in the UToledo Center for Performing Arts.
UToledo Center for Performing Arts
UToledo Professor of Guitar Jay Rinsen Weik and Toledo School for the Arts faculty member, Megan Leslie, will lead three sessions covering aspects of guitar playing and performance including chords, scales, creative use of pedals, mindfulness and stress reduction for the performing guitarist, music theory, guitar history, listening lab, developing a practice routine, and even playing together in the guitar orchestra!
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DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE AND FILM
The Virtual Filmmaker Summer Film Intensive is a two-week virtual filmmaking summer camp for teens looking to grow their narrative video-making skills. The camp features live, online class times and daily assignments. If you're a teen interested in learning the basics of filmmaking, The University of Toledo Department of Theatre and Film will host a 100% online film camp, June 13-24, 2022, for students ages 14 – 18.
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IMPORTANT SUMMER 2022 DATES
May 16, 2022: Summer Session I Begins
May 30, 2022: Memorial Day (no classes, offices closed)
June 13, 2022: Summer Session III Begins
June 20, 2022: Juneteenth (observed)
June 24, 2022: End of Summer Session I
June 27, 2022: Summer Session II Begins
July 4, 2022: Independence Day (no classes, offices closed)
Aug. 5, 2022: End of Summer Session II & III
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