Cate Brewer, visiting assistant professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance, performed and directed in the fifth annual DC SWAN (Support Women Artists Now) Day. Cate performed in Waiting Lessons by Laura Pfizenmayer, and also directed the comedy Gina and Her GPS by Katherine Burkman.
Jim Groom Featured in Chronicle of Higher Education
Jim Groom, director of teaching and learning technologies, is featured in the Thursday, March 29 blog post on The Chronicle of Higher Education website.
The post, “Professor Hopes to Support Free Course With Kickstarter, the ‘Crowd Funding’ Site,” discusses Groom’s efforts to raise $4,200 for a new server for ds106, the digital storytelling course.
Marcel Rotter Receives Grant
Marcel Rotter, associate professor of modern foreign languages, will receive a grant by the Goethe Institut Munich to participate in the training workshop “Blended learning for teaching and in teacher training” in August 2012.
Janet Cropp Represents UMW at SCHEV
Janet Cropp, assistant dean of advising services for the College of Business, completed an assignment with the SCHEV Analysis of Virginia’s Adult Degree Completion Services and Strategies for Improvement Advisory Committee. The final report is now available on the SCHEV website along with a fact sheet and summary booklet, which contains quotes from UMW BPS and BLS students: Assessment of Opportunities and Models for Adults to Complete the Baccalaureate Degree at Virginia Four-Year Institutions.
Environmental Studies Research Colloquium Talk, 4/11
On Wednesday, April 11, Dr. Laura Mentore (Anthropology) will share a presentation entitled “The Social Life of Plants in Amazonia”. The presentation will begin at 4 p.m. in Combs Hall, Room 237. Fair Trade coffee/tea and cookies will be served. This is the fifth and last talk of the year for the colloquium. Please come and join in the discussion!
Nabil Al-Tikriti Participates in Tokyo and Amman NGO Conferences
In his capacity as a board member of the United States section of MSF/Doctors Without Borders, Nabil Al-Tikriti, associate professor of history and American studies, participated in the annual MSF Japan General Assembly in Tokyo on March 24 and 25. Following that, he participated in the annual Field Associative Debate (FAD) for MSF staff serving in Jordan and Iraq, in Amman on March 28 through 29.
Rosemary Arneson Elected to VIVA Steering Committee
University Librarian Rosemary Arneson has been elected to the Steering Committee of VIVA, the Virtual Library of Virginia. VIVA is the consortium of the nonprofit academic libraries within the Commonwealth of Virginia. Members include all of Virginia’s state-assisted colleges and universities, as well as 33 private, nonprofit institutions and the Library of Virginia. Arneson will serve a two year term, beginning in July 2012.
Margaret Mi Presents Paper at Global Business Development Institute Conference
Margaret Mi, professor of business, presented “Small Business Strategy: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” paper at the annual conference of the Global Business Development Institute in Las Vegas, Nevada last week. Papers were refereed through a double-blind review process. The paper suggests that it may be less costly for small businesses to pay the $2,000 per employee penalty per year for not offering a health care plan than providing their own. The paper is being reviewed for one of the organization’s two journals.
Students Tour Nation’s Capital and Talk Leadership
On Wednesday, March 21, UMW students got an inside look at Washington D.C. and learned about leadership in the process. “Leaders of the Free World: Global Citizenship,” part of the AT&T Student Leadership Colloquium, gave 10 students the opportunity to spend the day at the U.S. Capitol Building, while thinking critically about leadership and citizenship.
The group visited Rep. Rob Wittman’s office, took a tour of the Capitol building with aides from Rep. Bruce Braley’s office and talked with Rep. Jared Polis about the importance of education. The students also spoke with Rep. John Lewis for more than two hours about leading through change.
Courtney Chapman-Thomas, director of leadership and coordinator of strategic initiatives, and Anand Rao, associate professor of English and director of speaking intensive programs, accompanied the students, who ranged from freshmen to graduating seniors. The day trip was open to all students on a first-come, first-serve basis.
The next event for the AT&T Student Leadership Colloquium will be a leadership discussion and project on Monday, April 2. The discussion will take place in Lee Hall, Room 411 at 6 p.m. and will be based on the topic “I serve, but do I lead?”
Alan Levine and Jim Groom Present at SXSWedu
Newest DTLT team member Alan Levine joined Jim Groom as invited speakers at the March 6-8, 2012 SXSWedu conference in Austin, Texas. Sharing their experiences in teaching the ds106 Digital Storytelling Conference, Levine and Groom joined Philipp Schmidt (P2PU) and Karen Fasinpaur (K12 Open Ed) in a lively panel discussion on Developing a Culture of Openness.
Levine also led a hands on session, Create Something from the StoryBox where participants explored a storytelling digital time capsule project he conducted during a year of travel in 2011.