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Spring 2006 College of Letters and Science

L&S Supports RGI IN THIS ISSUE

L&S Supports RGI John Boatman: A Legendary Educator L&S Alumni Send Praise and Thanks WUWM Now Offers Podcasts Holbrook Named Wilder Crane Professor L&S Welcomes New Faculty and Staff Stabile Helps Organize Conference Here Callanan’s Imagination is in the Clouds Kravtsov’s Life Runs Hot and Cold New Directions: Fascinating Facts UROP Needs Your Help Meet the First Zeidler Award Recipient 21st Century Studies: A Very Good Year Faculty and Staff News Faculty and Staff Retirements In Memoriam American Geographers Honor Schwartz L&S Award Recipients 2006 O. Henry Prize Winner

L&S is actively engaged in the University’s efforts to expand its research enterprise through the first annual Research Growth Initiative (RGI) that was launched in January. The RGI is an internal grant application process that will provide seed funds to enhance research productivity. While the total amount of dollars that ultimately will be allocated is not yet certain, the competition for funding certainly is intense.

Applications totaling $87 million were submitted to the Graduate School on January 23. Of these 285 proposals, 130 were written by L&S

faculty and staff who seek nearly $40 million of the campus wide total. The RGI concept is clearly supported in L&S, given that this year’s requests were authored by 85 individuals housed in five centers or programs and in 17 of our 21 academic departments.

At the time of this publication, all RGI proposals are under review by the outside panel of experts gathered for this task. Award negotiations are expected to occur during May and June, with award notices made in June. Successful proposals will be funded starting July 1, 2006.

John Boatman: A Legendary Educator When you’re on the northeast side of campus, take a few minutes to stop and see “A Tribute to John Boatman: An Ethnic Studies Legend,” in the display cases just outside Merrill 131.

Boatman, senior lecturer and instructional program coordinator, American Indian Studies and Ethnic

Studies, taught at UWM for 32 years before retiring in 2002.

The display includes photographs and publications by Boatman and others, focusing on American Indian Studies. There are also several decorative and cultural items that illustrate Boatman’s heritage.

Of Me’tis, Ojibwe and Menominee American Indian, and Swedish, French and Belgian heritage, he was a favorite with students of all backgrounds and interests who filled his classes.

Boatman said he endeavored to teach students “to take responsibility for ensuring that their grandchildren and great grandchildren can breathe the air and see and smell the flowers and drink the waters and see the birds and animals of our Earth Mother.”

Before coming to the University, Boatman served in Washington, D.C., as chief of staff to Wisconsin Congressman Alvin E. O’Konski.

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It’s always good to hear from our alumni. Here are some recent comments we’d like to share with you.

Michele McHenry BA Communication ‘04

I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank UWM and the Communication Department in the College of Letters and Science for a well-rounded education, and a great foundation to act as a stepping stone for my professional endeavors.

I graduated from UWM in December 2004 and got a job at the Department of Veterans Affairs as an Adjudicator. The interviewing process lasted over two hours, and I can honestly say that I have never been through something so demanding (finals not included). There were only seven questions that were asked, but each question consisted of 5+ parts. This interview tested your intellect, comprehension level, and communication skills. I knew I had all the attributes they were looking for, but my communication studies helped me to express them.

Realistically, when you are fresh out of college you don’t have many (if any) professional skills and experience to offer an employer. My Communication training helped me to see the skills that

I could offer, and taught me how to “sell” them to employers.

The education that I received from the Communication department gave me opportunities and possibilities that I would not have had otherwise. I love my job and feel honored to serve our country’s veterans and their families every single day.

Thanks again, UWM, for starting me off one step ahead of the crowd.

Mark Bruhy BA, MS Anthropology ’74, ‘81

My education and training in cultural resource management at UWM’s Archaeology Laboratory led to my employment with the U.S. Forest Service. Twenty-five years later, it’s been my continuing pleasure to serve as the historic properties manager for the Chequemegan-Nicolet National Forest. I’m pleased to know that UWM’s great tradition of training archaeologists and cultural resource managers continues.

John Picione BS Chemistry/Biochemistry ‘97

After going off to graduate school in Chicago and doing postdoc overseas, I found myself (by chance) teaching at UWM. It is a wonderful place to work.

My colleagues are wonderful, and some of them were my professors when I went to school here.

Richard Bett BA English ‘89

My experience with Letters and Science, as well as the students I shared time with, opened my mind up to many ideas as to professional direction. I believe in lifetime learning, and I was able to get my BA by working three jobs during school. The instructors and facilities were good back then, and even better today. Currently, I am a director within The Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. Letters and Science should be viewed as additional insight into our world, and how you may choose to interact within it. It’s up to you to make it click!

L&S Alumni Send Their Praise and Thanks

WUWM Now Offers Podcasts Milwaukee Public Radio, WUWM 89.7 FM, now offers the opportunity to download programs, enabling listeners to hear audio files of their favorite radio programs independent of live broadcasts or on-demand Internet streams. The new Podcasting service includes all of WUWM’s locally produced information programs, including news and feature segments, AT TEN, UWM Today, and national programs.

To receive Podcasts, all that’s required is a computer (PC or Mac), an Internet connection and free

Podcasting software. To hear the audio files on a computer requires an audio player, or to make Podcasts portable use a

portable media player. WUWM offers free podcatching software, called Juice, and a full list of Podcast programming on its Web site at www.wuwm.com.

Holbrook Named Wilder Crane Professor

Thomas Holbrook, professor, Political Science, has been named the Wilder Crane Professor of Government. The professorship is for a prominent scholar in the field, and honors Dr. Crane who taught political science here for 29 years.

In 1989, this state law was authored by Rep. David Travis, who was a student of Dr. Crane and who holds a BA in Political Science and a Master’s of Public Administration from UWM.

Holbrook’s research interests include political behavior, campaigns and elections, and state politics.

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L&S Welcomes New Faculty and Staff HUMANITIES AND COMMUNICATION Liam Callanan, assistant professor, English, holds an MFA in Creative Writing from George Mason University, Fairfax, VA (2001). His first novel, The Cloud Atlas, was nominated for best first novel of the year by the Mystery Writers of America. NATURAL SCIENCES Jian Chen, assistant professor, Chemistry, earned a PhD in Chemistry from Fudan University, People’s Republic of China (1995). Prior to UWM, he was senior chemist/principal investigator at Zyvex Corp., TX. Kelly Kaiser, lecturer, Mathematical Sciences, holds an MS in Mathematical Sciences from UWM (1997), and previously was a mathematics lecturer in the Academic Opportunity Center. Sergey Kravtsov, assistant professor, Mathematical Sciences/Atmospheric Sciences, earned a PhD in Physical Oceanography from Florida State University, Tallahassee (1998). Previously, he was a postdoctoral research associate and a researcher at UCLA. His focus is Climate Dynamics. Jodi McDermott, associate research specialist, Biological Sciences, holds a BA in Biology with a Chemistry minor from Wartburg College, Waverly, IA (2003). Before UWM, she was a research assistant in the Anatomy and Biophysics Department at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. Lindsay McHenry, assistant professor, Geosciences, earned a PhD in Geological Sciences from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ (2004). Her focus is on volcanology, mineralogy, and the geology of archaeological sites. Maria Alessandra Papa, senior scientist, Physics, holds a PhD from the University of Rome, Italy (1997). Previously, she was a permanent scientific staff member at Max Planck Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik,

Germany, in the field of gravitational wave data analysis.

SOCIAL SCIENCES Noelle Chesley, assistant professor, Sociology, earned her PhD in Human Development from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (2004). Most recently, she completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the University of Minnesota Department of Sociology. Her research concerns how involvement in work and family roles contributes to, or detracts from, the life quality of individuals in working families. Jennifer Smith, instructor, Political Science, holds an MA in Political Science from Yale University, New Haven, CT (2002) and is expected to earn her PhD from Yale in May. She has conducted research at Oxford University and the Free University of Berlin. Her specialty is Western European politics. Carol Stabile, associate professor, Journalism and Mass Communication, earned her PhD in English from Brown University, Providence, RI (1992). She just completed a book, “White Victims, Black Villains: Crime News, Race, and Gender in US Culture” (Routledge 2006). Her focus is gender, race and class in media.

CENTERS Tracy Buss, student services coordinator, Center for International Education (CIE), holds an MBA from Marquette University, Milwaukee (2002). Most recently, she held marketing positions at InPro Corporation and International Malting Corporation. Sharon Chetney, study abroad coordinator, CIE, Overseas Programs and Partnerships, earned her M.Ed from Carroll College, Waukesha (2002), where she worked in academic affairs and study abroad. Lauren Escobales, international student advisor, CIE, International Student and Scholar Services, earned

an M.Ed in Adult and Higher Education with a concentration in Student Personnel Services from the University of Oklahoma at Norman (2001). Previously, she was an international student advisor at Norman and at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Robin Leephaibul, evaluation and publications coordinator, CIE, earned an MA in International Education from the School for International Training, Brattleboro, VT (2006). She was a graduate intern/LTE in the Center’s Overseas Programs and Partnerships office. Victoria Serrano Ruiz, study abroad coordinator, CIE, Overseas Programs and Partnerships, holds an MS in Business Management from Cardinal Stritch University, Milwaukee (2001). Most recently, she was the travel study director, College of Extended Studies, San Diego State University, CA.

HONORS Alan Singer, Bradley Assistant Professor of History, Honors, earned his PhD in British History at the University of Missouri-Columbia (1999). Previously, he was Visiting Assistant Professor of the History of Western Civilization at Marquette University, Milwaukee.

LET US KNOW If you have story ideas or information to share in a future issue of Collegium, please contact Paula Orth, Editor, at phorth@uwm.edu or 229-2947.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee College of Letters and Science

Dean: G. Richard Meadows

Associate Deans: Marija Gajdardziska-Josifovska, Thomas O’Bryan, Charles Schuster, Rodney Swain

Assistant Deans: William Horstman, Connie Jo, Patricia Kissinger

Advancement and Public Affairs Director: Jennifer McKenzie-Flynn

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Carol Stabile Helps Organize International Conference Here Carol Stabile, associate professor, Journalism and Mass Communication, and one of the College of Letters and Science newest faculty members, is co-organizer of “Console-ing Passions,” an international conference on television, video, audio and new media. Co-organizer Elana Levine, assistant professor, Journalism and Mass Communications, is working with Stabile to host the conference, May 25-27, at UWM.

Arriving here last fall, Stabile is just getting to know the campus and her East Side neighborhood, as she spent the first semester completing White Victims, Black Villains: Crime News, Race, and Gender in US Culture, a book that traces how race and gender have combined in new media narratives

about crime and violence in U.S. culture. In it, she argues that the criminalization of African Americans in U.S. culture has been consistently and effectively legitimatized by news media deeply invested in protecting and maintaining white supremacy.

“I wanted to understand how the kinds of stories journalists tell about crime and race originated,” she said. “I wanted to see how and why this link between crime and race was created and sustained.”

Holding a PhD in English from Brown University, her specialties are gender, race, class, women’s studies, media and cultural studies, and crime news. Stabile came to Milwaukee from the University of Pittsburgh, where she had been director of the

Women’s Studies Program. At UWM, she teaches senior and graduate seminars in media studies.

“There are great students here,” she said. “They’re full of energy, smart, and well-prepared.”

While teaching, she’s also working on a third book about the media and

cultural narratives. “I’m looking at what the blacklist of progressives in the early 1950s meant for representation of families on television,” she said. “The family values rhetoric today’s politicians espouse seems directly lifted from the 1950s sitcoms. I’m interested in thinking about the role that the silencing of progressive voices played in the creation of a very narrow understanding of what it means to be a family today.”

“Console-ing Passions” is a board of feminist scholars whose interests converge around the study of media. Stabile attended her first conference 14 years ago, and said these conferences “are great places to hear new research on media and to get to know other feminist scholars.”

In addition to featuring research on gender, race, new media, international media and television reality programs, “Console-ing Passions” will feature a plenary session focusing on media disaster coverage that addresses the cultural role media play in communicating this information.

The plenary session is open to the public. For more information about the “Console-ing Passions” conference at UWM, please contact Stabile and Elana Levine at cptv@uwm.edu.

Carol Stabile’s most recent book, White Victims, Black Villains: Crime News, Race, and Gender in US Culture, traces how race and gender are reported by the media in crime and violence news.

These conferences are great places to hear new research and get to know other feminist scholars.

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“From Anchorage, we’d flown southwest over the waters of Cook Inlet, skirting the coast of Kenai Peninsula. Looking out the right side of the aircraft, I watched a series of volcanic peaks stretch along the coast. Snowy and distant, they looked like mountains you might visit in a dream.”

Most certainly, the author of this passage must have visited Alaska to capture its landscape in such detail. Well, Liam Callanan, assistant professor, English, writer of the well-reviewed The Cloud Atlas (Delacorte Press, 2004) hadn’t visited that state until he had a first draft of his first book. When he had the means to finally travel to Alaska, he discovered that most of his descriptions captured reality.

Callanan was able to do this with thorough research on the Internet, including viewing webcams of the area and listening to Alaskan radio stations. With his in-depth research and his vivid imagination, Callanan created a novel that takes place in past and present day Alaska.

“The Cloud Atlas” is a history, a mystery and a love story, focusing on a little-known story of World War II, when the Japanese launched firebombs harnessed to balloons that reached the U.S mainland. Callanan first read about the balloons in a New Yorker story by John McPhee.

Reviewing The Cloud Atlas, the San Jose Mercury News said: “Beautifully written and astonishingly well-researched…It was the setting that swept me away, but the characters that I will remember.”

Callanan’s love of fiction comes from his family, “where there is no such thing as a simple story,” he said. “I come from a big family of storytellers.”

The book was written while Callanan lived in Virginia and taught at George Mason and Georgetown

Universities. His second book is in the works.

Why set “The Cloud Atlas” in Alaska instead of other states along the country’s west coast? “Alaska is space-plus,” he explained. “It’s one of the last frontiers. Every single person there has a story and many are running away from something. I was taken by that.”

He compared Alaska to the early years of Los Angeles, which also was

regarded as a land of opportunity. It’s the city where his father, an attorney, moved the family from Virginia when Liam was a boy. The possibilities of Los Angeles, like Alaska, are limitless, he said, even if there is less physical space in L.A. “It’s still a place where people go to start a dream and to start over.”

In some sense, by moving to Milwaukee, he is starting over. After receiving a BA from Yale University,

Callanan worked in public relations for Catholic Charities and Ogilvy public relations firm and was a speechwriter at MCI.

Along the way, he also earned an MA in Literature at Georgetown and an MFA in English Literature from George Mason.

In Milwaukee, he not only teaches creative writing, he also writes fiction, book reviews for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and essays for WUWM-FM.

He combines his passion for writing with his joy of teaching. “I always needed to get out and talk about books. It’s inspiring to talk with students about reading and writing,” he said. “One of the reasons I wanted to teach is that I like creating a community. I’m rather awestruck that these students with very busy lives find reading and writing important, and that they are sitting down and joining the discussion.”

Milwaukee was “a big surprise” to Callanan and his family. They enjoy the city so much that, he said, they describe it as ‘Milwaikiki’ to their friends.

As in Waikiki, where people swim in mid-winter, Callanan has done that, too. After a few months in Milwaukee, he literally threw himself into the community by participating in the annual January 1 Polar Bears run into Lake Michigan. The adventure fulfilled a promise he made last fall when he organized

the Department of English Run-Ons team for the Panther Prowl, the UWM Alumni Association’s run to raise scholarship money. He said he’d go swimming on New Year’s Day if his department teammates raised the most money. They did, and he did.

As he explained, “I enjoy writing, but I also like being part of something bigger than me. UWM is exactly what I wanted.”

Liam Callanan’s Imagination is in the Clouds

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Sergey Kravtsov’s Life Runs Hot and Cold

Sergey Kravtsov, assistant professor, Mathematical Sciences, does atmospheric science research that may help us determine if the frequency and intensity of hurricanes is increasing, if the earth is headed toward a new Ice Age, or find potential answers to many other long-term global climate questions.

Kravtsov, who came to UWM this year from UCLA, focuses his research and teaching on Oceanography and Climate Dynamics, which is the study of processes that control the climate. Developing three-dimensional models, climatologists use their research to determine climate sensitivity – how it has affected the past and how it may affect the future.

Born in Moscow, he earned his master’s degree in applied mathematics and physics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and his PhD in Physical Oceanography from Florida State University, Tallahassee. Prior to

joining the faculty here, he spent five years in Los Angeles. It’s interesting, he said, that when he was in Moscow he studied tropical climates, and in Florida, he focused on glaciers.

Asked why he studies oceanography, Kravtsov said, “I have asked myself the same question. At first, it was because I was young and had the romantic notion that I would have ocean adventures.” His first adventure was set in motion when Russia opened the possibility of its citizens traveling

to other countries. “I wanted to see the world and go to other places,” he recalled. But Tallahassee proved to be too small and too hot for his family, which includes wife, Olga, and their six children. The younger Kravtsovs’ artwork covers his office wall, while his computer screensavers are photos of the children.

Happy to be in the larger city of Los Angeles, the Kravtsovs missed the snow and weren’t happy with the long commutes that averaged four hours a day. Pleased to be in Milwaukee, he said, “This is my kind of climate, and we were excited to see the winter.”

The global interrelationships of climate are particularly important, because what happens in one part of globe – whether it’s natural or manmade – affects the climate in another area. This is true of air as well as water, said Kravtsov, explaining the

focus on oceanography. The results of climate dynamics

studies have infinite applications, he added. The information can be used on a local level for farmers to decide which crops to plant; or insurance risk management specialists might use information about hurricane predictions. At the policy-making level, governments use the research to restructure energy policies like addressing environmental questions by requiring new products, such as hybrid cars and cleaner fuels.

In Milwaukee, he said, climate dynamics research might be used to determine such things as how many snow plows the city may have to purchase in five or 10 years.

As for the Kravtsovs in the next five or 10 years, he said, “Milwaukee is a perfect place for us. It is a place to come and to stay.”

Studying oceanography, I had the romantic notion that I would have ocean adventures.

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New Directions: Fascinating Facts and Gratifying Gifts

Is it possible that our New Directions Scholarship program is really 10 years old? Wasn’t it just a short time ago that we came together to support those first 15 scholarships? And maybe a little while later that our alumni joined in with donations to retain the outstanding students New Directions brought to L&S?

The 2005-06 academic year does indeed mark the 10th year for the College’s flagship scholarship program. From its humble beginnings in fall 1996, when we created the New Directions Fund to pool resources and recruit 15 deserving freshmen, the program has grown to a record 58 scholarships last fall, given to both first-year and returning students. In fact, we have set a new record for these awards in each of the last four years.

Since the program’s inception, 261 students have received 316 scholarships (students may reapply each year). Our L&S faculty and staff, both current and retired, have funded 57% of the

scholarships awarded (all 180 to first-year students), while our generous alumni have funded 43% (the 136 scholarships given to returning students).

Many recipients (18%) have said they intended to enroll in one of our pre-professional programs. The most popular academic majors have been Biological Sciences (12%), Journalism and Mass Communication (10%), Mathematical Sciences (7%), English and Chemistry (both 5%), and History (3%). The gender mix has been 74% women and 26% men.

A large number of recent New Directions recipients are still enrolled at UWM, but of the 79 who have graduated, 60 of them (a whopping 76%) graduated with final honors – 12 cum laude, 12 magna cum laude, and 36 summa cum laude.

These statistics are interesting, but, of course, New Directions is really about people – the remarkable students we help with our gifts.

Their interests and aspirations are as varied as their backgrounds and hometowns. Their accomplishments – at their respective high schools, in their communities, and as UWM students – are nothing short of extraordinary. Valedictorians, salutatorians, and 4.0 GPAs are common. Many juggle paying jobs and/or volunteer commitments with their academic schedule. Some are siblings of New Directions winners; some are the first in their families to attend college. All share a commitment to getting an excellent education and making their mark on the world.

That is what makes giving to New Directions so gratifying – the talent and determination of these students and their ability to enhance the learning experience for everyone. In addition, New Directions scholarships can mean the difference in whether a truly gifted student is able to attend UWM and focus on his or her schoolwork rather than outside commitments.

Simply put, our gifts truly matter. You may give to New Directions

by check, credit card or convenient payroll deduction. As little as $20 per month can underwrite one-quarter of a scholarship. And remember your donation counts toward the annual UWM Gives to UWM campaign (be sure to designate New Directions on your donor form). Contact Julie Carlson at jbc@uwm.edu or 229-2788 for more information about making your New Directions gift today.

UROP Needs Your Help The Undergraduate Research Opportunity (UROP) needs your assistance. In UROP, students, particularly those in their first two years at UWM, are placed as research assistants. These students receive academic credit, and the participating faculty and staff receive some additional support in their research programs.

UROP candidates must demonstrate a high level of self-motivation, a record of reliability, and experience completing long-term projects. This year, more than 30 UROP students work in the Departments of Anthropology, Biological Sciences, Communication, History, Journalism and Mass Communication, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology and Sociology.

If you think you might have suitable work for a UROP student, please take a few minutes to complete the on-line Research Proposal form at: urop.uwm.edu/facform04.html.

Although not every research setting is appropriate for lower-division undergraduates, experience shows that work such as data gathering and basic manipulation, library and Internet research, survey design and distribution, Web page development and equipment testing can be assigned to students with little formal training or preparation.

For more information about how you can help UROP, please contact Nigel Rothfels, rothfels@uwm.edu, or Shana Stein, sstein@uwm.edu.

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21st Century Studies: A Very Good Year By Ruud van Dijk, assistant director Center for 21st Century Studies The Center for 21st Century Studies is wrapping up a productive year in which several faculty-generated research projects have come to fruition, with others making significant strides. The Center also will welcome its second Tennessen Graduate Research Fellow, a UWM Ph.D. student who will spend the summer in residence completing a dissertation.

This fellowship is only one of several graduate student initiatives the Center has developed recently; others include a graduate student reading group and support for the very successful Midwest Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference, “Archival Bodies.”

“The Center exists primarily to promote interdisciplinary conversation

and research involving the humanities on our campus,” said Daniel Sherman, director, and professor, History. “Faculty and graduate student involvement is its life-blood.”

The Center reached a milestone with the publication of a new volume in its book series with Indiana University Press: Terror, Culture, Politics: Rethinking 9/11, edited by Sherman and Terry Nardin, distinguished professor, Political Science. Several other manuscripts are in preparation, all coming out of recent conferences, and being edited or co-edited by UWM faculty. This summer the Center plans to submit a manuscript based on its two-day conference, “Art of the State,” co-organized by Douglas Howland, Buck Professor of Chinese History.

In addition to several lectures, the Center also offered two successful,

faculty-organized symposia, demonstrating its commitment to a diverse array of faculty-generated programming. With an international line-up of speakers, the focus this spring is on “Art and its Autonomies.”

In April an interdisciplinary audience from UWM and the greater Southeastern Wisconsin community devoted a day to “In/Dependence: Disability, Welfare, Age,” organized by Anne Basting (Theatre, Center on Age & Community) and Andrea Westlund (Philosophy).

There is an on-going call for conference proposals on the Center’s Web site at: http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/21st/.

Meet the First Zeidler Award Recipient Agnieszka Krukowska, who arrived on campus this semester, is the first recipient of the UW-Milwaukee Frank P. Zeidler International Graduate Student Travel Award. Krukowska, who is from Poland, received the award for her academic success and involvement in helping bridge Polish and American cultures.

Established in the Department of History by Victor Greene, emeritus professor, the honor is awarded to international students who want to pursue a master’s degree at UWM. The student must have substantial preparation in American studies or history, and must also apply for a teaching assistantship. Each recipient will study and teach at UWM for two years.

The Zeidler Award is intended to improve relationships among people and countries, as students learn about and from one another. It is named for Frank Zeidler, Milwaukee mayor from 1948 to 1960. Zeidler, who still resides in Milwaukee, embraces

internationalism and believes that cross-cultural understanding occurs when people have the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas.

Krukowska graduated with distinction from the University of

Lodz, Poland, with an MA in American Studies and Mass Media, and is director of Poland’s first American Cultural Center. Fluent in English, French and Italian, she

previously had traveled and worked in the U.S. The center in Lodz was established by the American Embassy, which provides books, speakers and films as well as cultural events to promote understanding between America and Poland.

Krukowska learned about the opportunity at UWM when Greene distributed the Zeidler Award brochure after a speech he presented at the Center.

At UWM, where Krukowska teaches American Studies, she said, “I can bring diversity and another perspective to the students here. It’s about building mutual understanding and destroying stereotypes on both sides. I hope this is so, and I really believe it is so.”

(If you are interested in donating to the Frank P. Zeidler International Graduate Student Travel Award, please contact Jennifer McKenzie-Flynn, 229-6035, or jmckenz@uwm.edu.)

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HUMANITIES AND COMMUNICATION

Evelyn Ang, associate lecturer, Communication, was named the first executive director of the Peace Learning Center. The center strives to be a community catalyst for non-violent management and respect for self, others and the environment. Lawrence Baldassaro, professor, French, Italian & Comparative Literature, and academic program director, Honors College, was an invited speaker at the “Celebration of Italian Americans in Baseball” at the Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY. Also, he presented “Oral History of Italian Americans in Baseball” at the American Italian Historical Association conference, University of California-Los Angeles. Peter Blewett, senior lecturer, English, was a panelist at the Governor’s Summit on After School Programs in Madison. He also debated Milwaukee’s school voucher program on a live radio broadcast of the “Charlie Sykes Show: Insight 2006” in Milwaukee. Marc Dittloff, student of Yea-Fen Chen, assistant professor, Foreign Languages and Linguistics/Linguistics, who studies Mandarin Chinese, received the 2005 Wisconsin Association of Foreign Language Teachers Excellence in Foreign Study Award. Chen, who nominated Dittloff, was commended “for encouraging and developing students interest in foreign language studies” and “for supporting and maintaining a language program that produces such excellent students.” Yair Mazor, professor, Foreign Languages and Linguistics/Hebrew Studies, published a book, Love in the Back Seat: Hebrew Poetry in the Sixties (Zmora-Bitan, Tel Aviv). Michael Mikos, professor, Foreign Languages and Linguistics, published Polish Literature from 1864 to 1918. Realism and Young Poland. An Anthology (Slavica Publishers, 2006).

Jeffrey Oxford, associate professor, Spanish and Portuguese, published an edited and glossed student edition of Juan Valera’s Pepita Jimenez (Cervantes and Co., 2005). Rachel Spilka, associate professor, English, presented the keynote address at the 2005 annual meeting of the Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication at Texas Tech University, Lubbock. NATURAL SCIENCES

Mark Harris, professor, Geosciences, and associate dean for Natural Sciences, was named associate dean for research, Graduate School. Marija Gajdardziska-Josifovska, professor, Physics, and director of surface laboratory studies, was named interim associate dean for Natural Sciences. The Department of Mathematical Sciences offers a pilot program in which students complete two pre-college mathematics courses in one semester using ALEKS computer adaptive testing software for individualized instruction. Also, the department hosted a Conference on Stochastic Control and Numerics, organized by Richard Stockbridge and Ziyu Zheng, professors. The department also announced promotions: Eric Key to professor, and Vytaras Brazaukas, Boris Okun, Gabriella Pinter and Dexuan Xie to associate professor with tenure. In addition, Pinter received a 2005 Graduate School/UWM Foundation Research Award. Raminder Kaur, graduate student, Physics, was selected to participate at the 55th Lindau (Germany) meeting of Nobel Laureates and students. Only 60 students nationwide are chosen each year. This is the second consecutive year that a UWM Physics graduate student has been honored. Daniel Agterberg, associate professor, Physics, is Kaur’s advisor.

Albert Milani, professor, Mathematical Sciences, has been awarded a Fulbright Visiting Scholars grant in Chile for 2006-07.

SOCIAL SCIENCES

Margo Anderson, professor, History, a U.S. census expert, testified before the U.S. House of Representatives oversight hearings on plans for the 2010 Census. Sara Benesh, assistant professor, Political Science, presented a paper on the contributions of “extra” judges to the workload of the circuit at a conference on the Ninth Circuit, hosted by the University of Arizona Law School. Paul Brodwin, associate professor, Anthropology, received a two-year grant from the National Science Foundation for research into ethics of community psychiatry. He also was the guest editor of a special issue of Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry (June 2005), titled “Genetics and Collective Identity.”

Carrie Yang Costello, assistant professor, Sociology, published a book, Professional Identity Crisis: Race, Class, Gender and Success at Professional Schools (Vanderbilt University Press). Bruce Fetter, professor, History, was elected president of the International Commission for Historical Demography at its General Assembly in Sydney, Australia.

Raymond Fleming, associate professor, Psychology, co-presented “Affective and Behavioral Outcomes of Acculturative Stress in Russian Immigrants in the United States” at the Midwestern Psychological Association annual meeting in Chicago. Ann Greer, professor, Sociology, presented “Scientific Management Redux: Will Managers Bring Science to Medicine?” at the World Congress of the International Institute of Sociology, Stockholm.

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Faculty and Staff News Briefs from Around the World

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Faculty and Staff News continued from page 9

Fred Helmstetter, professor, Psychology, co-authored “The Role of the Mammalian Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) Kinase Pathway in Consolidation of Contextual Fear Memory.” The paper was presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, Washington, D.C. Douglas Howland, professor, History, published a book, Personal Liberty and Public Good: The Introduction of John Stuart Mill to Japan and China, (University of Toronto Press, 2005). Sunwoong Kim, professor, Economics, has been selected for the Fulbright New Century Scholars Program, “Higher Education in the 21st Century: Global Challenges and National Response.” Anthony Lemelle, professor, Sociology, was named vice chancellor, Academic Affairs, and was featured in WITI-TV Black History Month television spots saluting local African-Americans who are making a difference in the community. Steve McKay, Sociology, received a Ford Foundation Diversity Postdoctoral Fellowship for his project, “Racial Formation in the Global Market. He will conduct research at the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at the University of California-San Diego on the American colonial construction and contemporary reproduction of the Filipino niche in merchant shipping. James Moyer, Jr., assistant professor, Psychology, co-authored “Extinction accounts for the inverse relationship between context freezing and ITI in trace fear conditioning.” The paper was presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, Washington, D.C. Terry Nardin, professor, Political Science, co-edited, Lectures on the History of Political Thought, by Michael Oakeshott, Selected Writings, Vol. 2 (Imprint Academic, 2006);

Humanitarian Intervention, Vol. 47 of NOMOS: Yearbook of the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy (New York University Press, 2005); and Terror, Culture, Politics: Rethinking 9/11 (Indiana University Press, 2005). Kathryn Olson, associate professor, Communication, received two awards: the American Forensic Association’s Daniel Rohrer Research Award for the best piece of argumentation scholarship, and the Golden Anniversary Monograph Award for the most outstanding scholarly monograph. David Osmon, professor, and Douglas Woods, associate professor, Psychology, co-authored “Use of the Impact on Family Scale in children with tic disorders: Descriptive data, validity, and tic severity impact, Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 27, 11-21. Diane Reddy, associate professor, Psychology, received a UWM Alumni Association Award for Teaching Excellence, and co-presented “Effect of Physical Attractiveness on Parental Pressure to Change Sexual Orientation” at the Midwestern Psychological Association annual meeting in Chicago. Rodney Swain, associate professor, Psychology, and associate dean for Social Sciences, co-authored “Motivational deficits following bilateral cerebellar dentate nuclei ablation.” It was presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Marc Tasman, lecturer, Journalism and Mass Communication, and coordinator of the Digital Arts and Culture Certificate Program, was a finalist for the Mary L. Nohl Artist Fellowship Award, and was awarded a Global Studies Development Grant to enhance a Media Graphics course.

CENTERS Mary Knasinski, student services coordinator, Tutoring and Academic Resource Center, co-presented “Get Them Connected—Keys to Retention and Success,” and was conference

registrar at the National College Learning Center Association conference, Milwaukee.

PROGRAMS Cultures and Communities received a $100,000 “Difficult Dialogues” Ford Foundation grant, which enables the program to expand research, teaching and community engagement around race, ethnicity, and cultural pluralism. Kevin Beisser, student services specialist, English as a Second Language, concentrated on recruitment in Colombia, attended several events, visited and gave presentations at eight universities and advising centers, and participated in a national conference in Armenia, Columbia.

STUDENT ACADEMIC SERVICES Gwyn Wallander, senior advisor, was named the UWM Advisors and Counselors Network 2005 Advisor of the Year. The award is presented annually to the advisor who embodies the characteristics and dedication of a professional academic advisor.

WUWM Anna Panoka, reporter, is one of eight U.S. journalists awarded an International Reporting Project Fellowship in Washington, D.C., for the Spring 2006 program. The program’s goal is to encourage coverage of international issues by the U.S. media.

RETIRED FACULTY & STAFF Three classic papers by Karel Bayer, emeritus professor, Geography, were published in Geography of the Holy Land: Perspectives. They are: “Environmental and Social Symbolism in the Bible: 1897-1982;” “Images of Jerusalem,” and “Biblical Image of the Earth.” Greg Hoffmann, retired senior lecturer, Journalism and Mass Communication, published his first fiction book, Searching for UnMediated Truth (iUniverse and M&T Communications).

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IN MEMORIAM

Wyatt Osato, 50, program associate B, Physics, died January 1. A Tyler School of Art, PE, graduate, he received many awards and honors for his artwork.. A longtime Milwaukee resident, Osato’s art exhibit, “Aloha and Goodbye: Scenes from My Life by Wyatt Osato,” was presented at UWM’s Inova Gallery last January. The exhibition of self-portraits was a retrospective and a celebration of his life. Preparing for the exhibit, he wrote, “I am dying and as I am fading I still have the stamina to create a body of works that truly move the viewer with a vision that remains potent and fresh through time.” After the exhibit opening, family and friends gathered for a Life Celebration. Gerhard Rauscher, 76, professor emeritus, German, died January 14. A native of Stuttgart, he immigrated to the U.S. in 1962, became a U.S. citizen in 1967, and was a UWM faculty member for 34 years, retiring in 1996. As a Fulbright exchange student at Amherst College, Massachusetts, in 1954, he made his first trip to Milwaukee. Known as a local authority on German cultural history, for many years he served on the board of Goethe House, a German American cultural institute. Rauscher received several teaching excellence awards, and developed new courses including Germans in America and Germans in Wisconsin.

FACULTY AND STAFF RETIREMENTS FOR 2005-06

George Bailey, associate professor, Journalism and Mass Communication Eric Browne, professor, Political Science Brenda Carr, program assistant 2, Political Science Bernard Gendron, professor, Philosophy Howard Handelman, professor, Political Science John Harmon, administrative program manager I, Physics Teresa Howard, program assistant 3, Geosciences Deanna Jaloviar, Financial Specialist, L&S Administration Geoffrey Kennedy, associate professor, Biological Sciences Norman Lasca, professor, Geosciences Cheng-Ming Lee, professor, Mathematical Sciences Ismael Márquez, professor, Spanish and Portuguese Betty Morgan, academic department associate, Geography Robert Ponton, instrumentation innovator-research, Chemistry David Schultz, professor, Mathematical Sciences Louise Whitaker, program assistant 4, History

When Mark Schwartz, professor, Geography, was awarded the 2005 Ronald F. Abler Distinguished Service Honors by the Association of American Geographers, he was recognized for his leadership in redefining the department’s PhD program. With his leadership, the curriculum was changed and is now centered on urban environments.

The award citation reads, “For his service to geography through effective

leadership in his department and within the discipline of geography, for the lasting institutional impact he has created for geography graduate programs, and for his exemplary actions toward rebuilding an academic core and faculty.”

Referring to the honor, Schwartz said, “This means that my colleagues have recognized that I helped make something unusual and very good come from a difficult situation. However, as we are rebuilding the department infrastructure, everyone has to be engaged.”

The innovative PhD program is now more interdisciplinary. Its urban-environmental theme includes study of the problems and processes associated with the intersection of human and natural environments, strongly focused on “the city,” Schwartz explained. The program breaks with tradition in the field of geography, stressing a balance between traditional academic research and community engagement, as well as between research and teaching.

This is integrated science at its best, Schwartz remarked, aiming to make scientists aware of the interface with society. “When we’re at our best, we study different perspectives.”

His personal research focuses on phenology, the study of plant and animal life-cycle events triggered by environmental change, which has global warming implications that affect everything.

“I believe in the power of research.” Schwartz emphasized. “Knowledge transforms society and that makes things better for everyone.”

American Geographers Honor Mark Schwartz

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L&S Award Recipients The University’s annual fall awards ceremony and reception was held last October in the Union Wisconsin Room. Chancellor Carlos E. Santiago presented 13 awards to Letters and Science faculty and staff.

Ernest Spaights Plaza Honorees

The Ernest Spaights awards are given in memory of Professor Ernest Spaights, assistant chancellor for student affairs from 1970-79, who played a key role in designing programs for minority and disadvantaged students.

The University presents the awards to individuals who have made significant, enduring and campus-wide contributions to UWM’s growth and development.

Two of the five honorees (all pictured here) commented on receiving the Ernest Spaights award.

ADDITIONAL AWARDS

Academic Staff Outstanding Performance Awards

Sandra Jones, acting director, Cultures and Community Program Connie Jo, assistant dean, College of Letters and Science

UWM Foundation and Graduate School Research Awards

Paul Brewer, assistant professor, Journalism and Mass Communication Guilherme Indig, assistant professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry Paul Lyman, associate professor, Physics Gabriella Pinter, assistant professor, Mathematical Sciences

Faculty Distinguished University Service Award

William Holahan, professor, Economics

Represented Classified Staff Outstanding Service Awards

Celita Kouzes, Fin. Specialist 3, Biological Sciences

Caterina Sukup, accountant-journey, College of Letters and Science

Haig Khatchadourian professor emeritus, Philosophy It was a distinct but totally unexpected honor for me to have been counted among the educators who have served the university with distinction. It was unexpected because I did not think that just trying to fulfill one's duties to the best of one's ability deserved special recognition. Still, the fact that one's name is writ in bronze (not "in water") does give one a quiet sense of satisfaction.

John Bibby professor emeritus, Political Science This award is especially gratifying to receive because the nomination was initiated by my political science departmental colleagues, with whom I have worked for over three decades, and then reviewed by a university-wide committee. It is an honor to be remembered in this way and to have been a part of UWM's development into a major research and teaching university.

Leon Schur professor emeritus, Economics

Richard Perlman professor emeritus, Economics

Donn Haglund professor emeritus, Geography

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2006 O. Henry Prize Winner Enjoys UWM Creative Writing Community If you believe George Makana Clark, he began writing because it was better for his knees to become an Army journalist rather than a soldier, and he accidentally enrolled in a creative writing course. Were it not for these events, he’ll tell you, he might still be strumming his guitar or playing a concertina in South American and European pubs.

Instead, Clark, associate professor, English, teaches Creative Writing here, and in the past few years has received a number of literary honors, including a 2006 O. Henry Prize for his story, “The Center of the World,” about dying tribal customs in war-torn Zimbabwe. The O. Henry Prizes are considered the nation’s most prestigious short fiction awards. He also received a 2002 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Fiction Writing and a 2003 Caine Prize for African Writing finalist honor.

A native of Zimbabwe, Clark traveled and lived throughout the world, including Germany, where he met his wife, Rikki. He was stationed in Germany during a U.S. Army tour of

duty. “I told them I was a journalist, because I thought it would be better than doing field exercises in the snow,” he explained, adding that many literary figures have journalism backgrounds. So, he set about teaching himself to type and edit the Army base newspaper.

Intending to earn his MA in Literature at Florida State University, he recalled that he “accidentally” signed up for a creative writing course

and was hooked on writing. “My first stories were just horrible,” he said, “but I was learning how to write.” As a way of relaxing after his PhD preliminary exams, he wrote “The Small Bees’ Honey,” the title story for what would become his short story collection. He holds a PhD in Modern American and Modern British Literature from FSU.

After teaching at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, Clark joined the UWM faculty in 2001. Teaching here is being part of a close, flourishing creative writing community, Clark said. “The students here are more vocal than other places I’ve taught. They tend to enjoy learning about writing and talking about writing. When I teach, I find I read more and read more deeply to keep up with the students. I push them, but that means I first have to push myself.”

Although most of his stories take place in Southern Africa where he was raised, he’s also interested in Celtic Studies and sits on the UWM Celtic Studies curriculum committee. He says his interest in things Celtic may stem from his mother, who was Scottish. In the future, he hopes to write “creative

non-fiction” about the less well-known Celtic areas such as Wales, Cornwall and the Isle of Mann.

For the present, Clark is focusing on a new novel. The protagonist is a descendant of American slaves, and the action takes place in Angola and Louisiana. But he’s most attracted to the short story form. “I’m a slow writer, and it takes a long time to finish a short story because I like to be able to craft every sentence with an eye to detail. Short stories tend to be denser in meaning than novels; you have to squeeze more meaning into every word.”

After all, he added, “Storytelling is a way of making meaning and sense out of the world. When people tell their own stories, they exaggerate and edit until their tales are ‘storified.’ This is how we make sense of our place in the world.”

Storytelling is a way of making meaning and sense out of the world.