May 2004

SLA UPDATE

Toby Parcel

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the School of Liberal Arts monthly newsletter! This monthly electronic forum will highlight the School of Liberal Arts' contributions to the campus and community through our discovery, engagement and learning, as well as events, honors, awards and new faculty.

First, I want to say thank you to all faculty and staff for another successful year. To mark this great year please join us for the End-of-the-year Thank You Celebration on May 6. Everyone in the School of Liberal Arts is invited to Founders Park from 3:30-5 p.m. for refreshments, music and conversation with other faculty and staff.

Two of this year's great achievements include the school's largest gift and a department's national recognition as one of the top graduate programs in its field.

One of our leading alumni, Rusty Rueff, and his wife, Patti, have pledged $5 million to the Department of Visual and Performing Arts. The department will be named after Rusty and Patti in recognition of their gift.

I also am very pleased to see the Department of Audiology and Speech Sciences' master's and doctoral programs climbing in the recently announced U.S.News World and Report rankings. Both master's and doctoral programs in Audiology and Speech Sciences, which placed eighth and third, respectively, continue to stand out with their interdisciplinary research, excellent faculty and new initiatives, such as the audiology doctoral degree.

I also want to recognize that the School of Liberal Arts had 10 faculty promoted this spring, and I am especially pleased that the Board of Trustees recognized Charles Stewart, professor of communication, with a distinguished professorship.

I hope you enjoy the first edition of this newsletter.

SPECIAL REPORTS

Have you heard? Purdue audiology, speech programs tops nation

Two programs in Purdue University's Department of Audiology and Speech Sciences were ranked among the top 10 in the nation by U.S.News & World Report.

Research in speech sciences

In the survey released April 2, Purdue's master's and doctoral degree programs in speech-language pathology tied for third nationally, up from fourth last year. The master's and doctoral degree programs in audiology climbed five spots from last year to eighth. More

Purdue receives $5 million gift for visual, performing arts

A Purdue University liberal arts graduate who is part of the interactive entertainment industry recognized his alma mater with the largest single gift ever made to Purdue's School of Liberal Arts.

Rueff gallery

Purdue officials announced March 11 that the university will name its Department of Visual and Performing Arts after Rusty Rueff and his wife, Patti, of Burlingame, Calif., in recognition of their $5 million deferred gift. The department, in Purdue's School of Liberal Arts, is composed of four divisions – art and design, music, dance and theater. More

College students score nationwide with Purdue golf program

College students nationwide are learning that getting their shot in business may mean taking their shot on the golf course.

Purdue golf program

Thomas Templin, professor and head of the Department of Health and Kinesiology at Purdue University, worked with the PGA of America in 1998 to create Golf: For Business & Life, which provides high-quality instruction from PGA professionals to novice golfers who may one day be playing the sport as part of business. Since the program was created, 49 schools, including Texas at Austin, Stanford, North Carolina, Wake Forest and Arizona State universities, have received $3.7 million from the PGA of America as an incentive to follow the model created at Purdue. More

Expert brings 18th century literary greats back to life in digital book

Thanks to Purdue University Press' first digital book, readers can learn what some of the greatest minds in 18th century literature might say today if they traded their quill pens for keyboards.

McKenzie's Digital-I book

Alan T. McKenzie, professor of English who is an expert in British literature, puts words into the mouths of some of the century's key literary figures, such as Samuel Johnson and Lord Chesterfield, in "Enlightening Up Postmodernism: Seven Pastirodies."

The e-book ($24.95) is available from the Purdue University Press. Purdue's e-books, known as Digital-I books, are published in a digital format, and no paper copies exist. This book is believed to be the first digital book in literary criticism. More

Prof: Look past violence, differences to live with global neighbors

As war and violence continue to displace ethnic groups, a Purdue University anthropologist says the world could learn a lesson about tolerance from the pages of history.

'After the Escape'

"Today we often feel besieged by images of people coming to violent conflict over religious and ethnic identities," says Andrew Buckser, a professor of anthropology who studies cultural and religious groups' identities. "But as we step into a violent 21st century, it's even more important to follow the example set by a small Scandinavian country in the 1940s that went to great risks to protect its Jewish population from the Nazis. What's just as remarkable is that the citizens of Denmark have continued to resist the revival of anti-Semitism that has been such a disturbing feature of European society in recent decades."

Buckser's work, which is highlighted in his book "After the Escape: Jewish Identity and Community in Contemporary Denmark," (published by Palgrave MacMillan, 2003) studies how and why the Christian Danes rallied to prevent the deportation of its Jews in 1943. His research, which includes interviews with more than 100 Danish Jews, also analyzes the Jews' return to Denmark and how their community has developed in the decades since. More

'Envision Center' brings depth and feeling to Purdue research

High-tech spelunkers at Purdue University have a special computerized "Cave," within which they will transform themselves into hunters and gatherers of complex information.

The Cave, a special facility allowing three-dimensional visualization of data, is part of Purdue's Envision Center for Data Perceptualization beneath the Purdue Memorial Union. The center will allow far more life-like simulation of real-world phenomena, from storm systems to cellular life, and will help far-flung teams of engineers to collaborate on projects from automobile design to oil prospecting.

Melanie Morgan, assistant professor of communication in the School of Liberal Arts, is working with the Envision Center on a project to help students overcome communication apprehension or fear of public speaking. Read more

NEWS TIPS

Parents don't make underage drinking safer (Julia Chester, assistant professor of psychological sciences)

Women's History Month Tips

• Professor: Attitude on the job best way to 'look good'(Patrice Buzzanell, associate professor of communication)
• Fight against sexism in workplace a long way from over (Michael Schmitt, assistant professor of psychological sciences)
• Despite efforts to include women, many missing from history (Nancy Gabin, associate professor of history and a member of the women's studies program)
• Purdue professor: The arts create reality for black women (Venetria K. Patton, professor of English and director of the African American Studies and Research Center)

Professor: Missing 'Friends?' Build real ones (Glenn Sparks, professor of communication)

Election 2004 Experts (Political Science, Communication and English faculty)

Language trend leads Americans to more global jobs (Margie Berns, professor of English language and linguistics)

'Homework' helps classrooms curb hazing, violence (Jack Spencer, professor of sociology)

Shakespeare expert explains humor, 'fraud of men' during tax season (Charles Ross, professor of English)

FACULTY AND BOOKS

-- John Larson, professor of history, has been appointed a Barra Postdoctoral Fellow at the McNeil Center for Early American Studies in Philadelphia.

-- Frank Lambert, professor of history and an expert in the history of religion of America, was cited by Chief Justice William Rehnquist in a Supreme Court opinion delivered on Feb. 25.

-- Russ Jones, division chair and associate professor of theater in the Patti and Rusty Rueff Department of Visual and Performing Arts, has been selected by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival to receive the Summer Intensives Faculty Fellowship in Washington, D.C.

-- Patricia Hart, professor of foreign languages and literatures, received the School of Liberal Arts Excellence in Education Award at the Purdue Honor's Convocation.

-- Thomas Templin, professor and head of the Department of Health and Kinesiology, was named the president-elect of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education.

-- Jack Spencer, professor of sociology who studies youth violence, has received a Purdue Faculty Summer Fellowship that will allow him to collaborate with the Crime Control Policy Center in Indianapolis.

Trustees honor Liberal Arts faculty member

Charles Stewart, communication professor, was appointed distinguished professor by the Board of Trustees on April 9.

Charles Stewart

His career at Purdue spans more than four decades and includes heading the communication department for 10 years. He has received numerous teaching awards and honors for outstanding teaching from Purdue and the National Communication Association. He is a Founding Fellow of the Purdue Teaching Academy and is inscribed in its Book of Great Teachers. Undergraduate and graduate courses he has taught in the past three years include principles of persuasion, interviewing, persuasion and social protest, and extremist rhetoric on the Internet. More

Two Liberal Arts faculty were honored with the university's highest undergraduate teaching honor

Kristina Bross, assistant professor of English, and Janice Kelly, associate professor of psychological sciences, received the 2004 Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Awards in Memory of Charles B. Murphy. More

School of Liberal Arts names 2004 distinguished alumni

The Purdue University School of Liberal Arts honored six graduates as the school's 2004 distinguished alumni. Recipients are: Ted Allen, Jane Kinn Buser, Leonard Cox, Sonya Margerum, Stephanie S. Tolan and John von Szeliski. More

FACULTY PROMOTIONS

Trustees approve faculty promotions

STUDENT HONORS

School of Liberal Arts awards 57 scholarships

UPCOMING EVENTS

Members of the Department of Health and Kinesiology invite the public to help launch the Coalition for Living Well After 50 at 11 a.m. to 1:30 pm on May 19 at Riehle Plaza. The special event will feature displays about physical activity and a walk to the Wabash Heritage Trail Lafayette and West Lafayette entrances. The Coalition, a partnership between Purdue faculty and the community, encourages aging Americans to engage in regular physical activity.

Purdue anthropologist leads volunteers in 1920s Sears House dig

On May 17-21, Deborah Rotman, assistant professor of anthropology, and three students from Purdue's archaeology field school will guide about 20 local volunteers in excavating a house site at 2114 N. Ninth St. The home, which is being donated by the city of Lafayette, was constructed in 1921 from a kit sold by Sears, Roebuck and Company. The excavation is being conducted as part of The Museum at Prophetstown programming.

All cultural materials recovered from the site will be analyzed at Purdue's anthropology laboratory. Anthropology students and graduate students who have completed Purdue's archaeological field school will assist with supervising the site surveying, mapping, excavating, and laboratory procedures, such as classifying and cataloging artifacts. Members of The Museum at Prophetstown can volunteer for the excavation by attending a May 15 training session. Interested members and volunteers should contact the museum at (765) 567-4700 by May 14. The public can watch the excavation from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on May 17-21.

PAST EVENTS

48-hour marathon reading brings 'Don Quixote' to Purdue campus

About 200 people at Purdue University tested their literary endurance as they read "Don Quixote" in the country's first 48-hour reading marathon in English and Spanish in anticipation of the book's 400th anniversary.

Don Quixote Reading

"Don Quixote's adventures have captivated readers around the world for almost 400 years," says Howard Mancing, professor of Spanish and author of "The Cervantes Encyclopedia." "We wanted to pay tribute to this character, the crazy, yet romantic and chivalrous knight, who has entertained millions in the book that is acknowledged as the world's first novel." More

Technology creates new beat for dancer to move to

A partnership between art and technology at Purdue University allowed a dancer in the Spring Works 2004 concert to pop virtual bubbles and rustle virtual dry leaves with no props on stage.

Motion-capture dance

The Purdue Repertory Dance Company presented 10 new dance works, including "A Turn of Season," on April 30 and May 1. Faculty and students from the theater sound program, dance, and computer graphics technology used motion-capture technology to enhance the dance performance with imagery and sound. More

Award-winning poet spoke at 73rd Literary Awards

Pulitzer Prize winning poet Charles Wright spoke on April 21 at this year's literary awards celebration at Purdue University. More

American Studies Program celebrates anniversary with symposium

Purdue University's American Studies Program, the oldest interdisciplinary program in the School of Liberal Arts, marked its 40th anniversary on March 25-27 with a three-day symposium. More

African American Studies presents spring speakers

Cultural issues, such as Latin themes in literature and black women writers, were part of the Purdue University African American Studies and Research Center's spring speaker schedule. More

EXPERTS IN THE NEWS

Naples Daily News –
For children, moving might sound worse than it is (Glenn Sparks)

Louisville Courier-Journal –
Purdue receives $5 million pledge (School of Liberal Arts gift)

San Francisco Chronicle –
Nader a threat to Kerry, polls say Democrats fear independent could help re-elect Bush (James McCann)

Louisville Courier-Journal –
Teen with cerebral palsy inspires others (Michael Flynn)

Chrisitan Science Monitor –
5 years after Columbine, the insecurity lingers (Jack Spencer)

Journal and Courier –
Quixotic project to end today (Howard Mancing)

Any story ideas or news tips can be sent to Amy Patterson-Neubert at the Purdue News Service, (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu