May 2005

CLA UPDATE FOR FACULTY & STAFF

Toby Parcel

As we end the semester, I would like to extend my thanks for everything you are doing for the College.

Of special interest this month, congratulations to Anne Smith for being named Distinguished Professor of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences.

Professor Smith, who has been head of the department since 1998, is nationally known for her work in the neurophysiological bases of speech production, especially in the areas of normal development and disruptions of speech in stuttering. This honor brings the number of distinguished professors to seven in the College of Liberal Arts.

I am also pleased to announce that we have recruited 21 new faculty to the college for 05-06.

The new faculty members are:

Communication
Stacey Connaughton, assistant professor
Tyler Harrison, assistant professor
Karen Myers, assistant professor
Susan Morgan, associate professor of communication
Pam Whitten, professor of communication

English
Bill Mullen, professor and Director of American Studies
Christopher Lukasik, assistant professor

Foreign Languages and Literatures
Nadege Veldwachter, assistant professor

History
Darren Dochuk, assistant professor
Juan Wang, assistant professor
Stacey Holden, assistant professor
Mike Ryan, assistant professor

Philosophy
Mark Bernstein, professor of philosophy
Daniel Frank, professor and Director of Jewish Studies

Political Science
Bert Rockman, professor of political science

Psychological Sciences
William Graziano, professor of social psychology
Kimberly Kinzig, assistant professor

Sociology and Anthropology
Kevin Vaughn, assistant professor

Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences
Mahalakshmi (Preeti) Sivasankar, assistant professor
Karen Kirk, professor of audiology
Michael Heinz, assistant professor

Several additional searchers are underway.

I look forward to these scholars' contributions to the College of Liberal Arts. Also, please take time to read the spring issue of Liberal Arts Magazine to learn about our colleagues' "preeminent" achievements.

Thanks to everyone for a great year and best wishes for a restful and productive summer.

Toby L. Parcel

RESEARCH

New bike design for toddlers wins international competition

A new bicycle design created at Purdue could erase the need for parents to hold on to the back of a two-wheel bicycle as their child learns to ride.

Scott Shim consults
with Steve Visser about SHIFT

The bike, called SHIFT, was created by an Industrial Design professor and two students. Their design topped 853 entrants from 56 countries to win the $15,000 first prize in the ninth International Bicycle Design Competition in Taiwan.

"Most children learn how to ride a bike on training wheels, but these simply keep the bike from tipping," said Scott S. Shim, an assistant professor in the College of Liberal Arts. "Our bike allows children to learn how to balance themselves as they ride instead of looking back to see if their parent is still holding the bike."

"This bicycle, which is for toddlers, was designed with my 4-year-old son, Kevin, in mind."

The 16-inch-wheel bicycle looks like a tricycle, but as the child gains momentum and learns to balance, the two rear wheels shift inward to merge into one. This causes the balance to gradually shift from the bicycle to the child.

"SHIFT provides more balance at lower speeds when stability is most critical, especially when starting and stopping, by providing a larger stance," Shim said. More

Prof: Don't bank on violence in summer blockbusters to fill theaters

Violence in movies may not be the feature attraction that Hollywood thinks it is, says a Purdue researcher who recently completed a study on violence in movies.

Glenn Sparks

"Violence is generally perceived as a necessary component in making a motion picture interesting and entertaining," says Glenn G. Sparks, professor of Communication. "But in this study we could not find that violence, such as hitting, punching, shooting and killing, was really contributing to the overall appeal of the film."

"The important finding is that these results draw attention to the assumption that violence is necessary to enhance the appeal of a movie. This is something to think about on the eve of the summer movie season, which is already buzzing about the increase of violence in the final installment of the 'Star Wars' series."

Most research on violence in the media, especially movies, is concentrated on how or whether violence increases viewers' aggressive behavior, says Sparks, who is internationally known for his work on the emotional effects of media, including how frightening films affect children. Sparks began to think about the appeal of violence in movies while working on a book chapter about the enjoyment of horror and violence. More

Professor writes about Boston – a city no longer 'darning' its Sox

Boston's banner year in sports is cause for fans to look back at the blessings and curses that make this sports hub what it is today, said a Purdue sports history expert.

Randy Roberts

"No town is richer in sports than Boston, and it's impossible to separate the city's history from sports," said Randy Roberts, a professor of History who has written or edited eight books on sports in America. "Even Boston's physical landscape is defined by the arenas and stadiums – from Heartbreak Hill in the Boston Marathon to the Green Monster, Fenway Park's enormous left field wall, and the Boston Garden arena.

"Plus the fans love their players, but it also drives them crazy when things do not go right."

Fortunately for those fans, things are going right.

The city's National Football League team, the New England Patriots, have won the last two Super Bowls, and its major league baseball team, the Red Sox, last fall won its first World Series in 86 years.

But Boston's love for sports was not there from the start, Roberts writes in his new book, The Rock, the Curse and the Hub: A Random History of Boston Sports. The book, ($24.95) which was published in April by Harvard University Press, is a series of essays Roberts edited on Boston sports, including baseball, basketball, boxing, running, crew, hockey and football. More

Scholars aim to set record straight about Yugoslav wars

More than 250 scholars, led by a Purdue History professor, are trying to help reconcile the peoples of the former Yugoslavia by setting straight the historical record of what actually did – and did not – happen during the wars that followed the country's breakup.

On April 19, representatives from the group, called the Scholar's Initiative, led a series of talks in Washington, D.C., to highlight the preliminary results of the project.

The scholars – representing more than 25 countries from five continents – will report on 11 controversies from 1986-2000, including the wars involving Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia and Kosovo. The goal is to promote public awareness and dialogue across the newly created political and cultural frontiers created by Yugoslavia's collapse, says Charles Ingrao, Purdue professor of History and Director of the Scholar's Initiative.

"Ever since the 1991-92 dissolution of Yugoslavia, we have witnessed the birth of a half dozen self-serving accounts of what happened that carefully exclude inconvenient facts, while emphasizing or simply creating new ones that reinforce the divisions among peoples," said Ingrao, who studies ethnic conflict in Eastern Europe. More

Prof: Stop explaining 'why' when teens kill; instead reach out

The labels put on youths who commit violent crimes not only prevent society from understanding their behavior, but also act as a barrier to solving the problem, says a Purdue sociologist.

J. William Spencer

"Children are supposed to be innocent and vulnerable, and it's our job as adults to protect them," says J. William Spencer, associate professor of Sociology. "But what happens when teen-agers become 'cold-hearted' and terrorize, or even kill, their classmates and teachers? Then adults become fearful of teens and want to keep them at an arm's length."

"As a result, we're trying to solve the problem by protecting them or punishing them without actually engaging with teen-agers because we are scared."

Spencer analyzed how teens who were involved in violent acts, such as murder and beatings, were described and profiled in the news media by politicians, experts and the general public during the 1990s. The result of Spencer's analysis is published in the February issue of Symbolic Interaction.

"How we understand the problem shapes our solution," Spencer says. "And I worry that 'Why?' is being answered incorrectly." More

Professor seeks Indianapolis adults for study on aging, memory

Indianapolis older adults are needed for a Purdue study that is analyzing changes in memory as healthy people get older.

Aimée Surprenant, associate professor of Psychological Sciences, is looking for adults who are over the age of 60, in good health and are native speakers of American English to participate in a variety of experiments at the Purdue Institute of Behavioral Sciences, 8465 Keystone Crossing Blvd., Suite 150, Indianapolis.

"We are testing to see if perceptual deficits, such as a reduction in hearing or vision, might contribute to decreased memory performance," said Surprenant, Director of Purdue's Cognitive Aging and Memory Lab. "If a person needs to work a little harder to hear or to see, that might mean fewer resources are available for the rest of us to use. This research could help us discover how older people better use such resources to maintain their memory." More

OTHER NEWS

College of Liberal Arts names 2005 distinguished alumni

The College of Liberal Arts honored five graduates as 2005 distinguished alumni.

Recipients are Carolyn Curiel, Stuart Howard, Jacquiline S. Rudolph Touba, Robert Utley and Jack G. Wiggins. More

Students studying aging can master 2 disciplines with new program

Beginning in the fall semester, Purdue is believed to be the first university to offer a dual-title doctorate program that allows students to specialize in aging issues and a related field.

Tetyana Pylypiv, Gerontology student,
shops with residents at a retirement center

"Up until now, Ph.D. students at Purdue and other universities had to choose between a disciplined-based doctoral program in a single discipline, such as Sociology, Communication or Nutrition, or specialize in aging with a doctorate in Gerontology," said Gerry Hyner, professor of Health and Kinesiology and Director of Purdue's Gerontology Program.

"Purdue now will be offering the first dual-title Ph.D. in Gerontology, which allows students a complementary education in both fields. This provides disciplinary depth and interdisciplinary breadth. For example, a Veterinary Pathobiology student will study life cycles of animal cells, then focus on how aging affects both older animals and adults."

Starting in the fall, doctoral students can combine Gerontology with 10 areas that deal with aging issues. Those areas are Consumer Sciences and Retailing; Communication; Foods and Nutrition; Health and Kinesiology; Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences; Psychological Sciences; Sociology; Child Development and Family Studies; Veterinary Clinical Sciences; and Veterinary Pathobiology.

Prospective students can apply for the program, which is offered by the Gerontology Program, a division of the Center on Aging and the Life Course. More

Purdue employees give $42 million to campaign, bar raised

The bar for the on-campus portion of the Campaign for Purdue was raised April 15 to $50 million, the university announced as it celebrated $42 million in gifts from faculty, staff and retirees, including a gift from a Liberal Arts professor and his spouse.

Estelle and
Robert L. Ringel

Robert L. and Estelle Ringel have committed a gift of $100,000 from their estate for the Robert L. Ringel Gallery in the Purdue Memorial Union.

Robert Ringel served as Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs for a decade – from 1991 to 2001 – and is currently a professor in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences as well as the Donald S. Powers Distinguished University Administrator. He earned his master's and doctoral degrees from Purdue.

With more than two years left in the $1.5 billion campaign, the university has brought in $1.127 billion overall. More

FACULTY & CLA HONORS

Trustees honor professor in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences

Anne Smith, department head and professor of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, was named Distinguished Professor of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences by the Purdue Board of Trustees on April 8.

Smith earned her master's degree in 1974 and doctorate in 1978 from University of Iowa. She received a bachelor's degree in 1972 from Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Mich. Her research focuses on the neurophysiological bases of speech production, specifically in the areas of normal development and disruptions of speech in stuttering.

She joined Purdue's faculty in 1981 and has twice won editor's awards from the Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research. She has been principal investigator for numerous projects funded by the National Institutes of Health and has served on many review panels for the NIH.

Smith has mentored numerous students, and her research has been published in several prestigious journals in her area of expertise as well as in journals outside her discipline, such as journals in neurology and neurophysiology. More

Guggenheim fellowship awarded to English professor

The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has extended one of its annual fellowships to Purdue faculty member Marianne Boruch.

Guggenheim fellowships are grants designed to assist select individuals who are pursuing creative research and artistic endeavors. According to the foundation, the average grant amount in 2003 was nearly $36,000. Fellows may spend their funds in any manner they deem necessary for their work.

Boruch, professor of English and Director of Purdue's Master of Fine Arts Creative Writing Program, will use the fellowship to complete her sixth collection of poems. More

Two Purdue Theatre graduate students win national awards

Two Purdue University Theatre graduate students captured national honors at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, which took place April 18-24 in Washington, D.C.

Amanda Folena
in As Bees In Honey Drown

Scenic designer Jesse Dreikosen and actress Amanda Folena were the Purdue winners at the festival, which drew the top finishers from eight regional competitions.

Dreikosen, a master of fine arts candidate from Spencer, Wis., won the Barbizon Award for Design Excellence in scenic design for his work during Purdue's 2004 production of King Lear. He received an honorarium and a fully funded trip to New York City to act as an observer at the National Design Portfolio Review at Lincoln Center.

Folena, a first-year graduate student from San Jose, Calif., won the national Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship. She was nominated for the award based on her performance in the role of Alexa Vere de Vere during Purdue's 2004 production of As Bees In Honey Drown. Folena received a scholarship from the Irene Ryan Foundation, which was established in 1971 to honor the most talented student-actors performing in the Kennedy Center festival. More

Two Liberal Arts professors receive 2005 Murphy Award

Janet Alsup, assistant professor of English Education, and Richard Rand, professor of Visual and Performing Arts, are two of six Purdue educators to receive one of the 2005 Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Awards in Memory of Charles B. Murphy.

The university's highest undergraduate teaching honor, the Murphy Award is given in recognition of exemplary teaching in all phases of undergraduate instruction at the West Lafayette campus. A $5,000 monetary award accompanies the honor.

The winners' names will be included in the engraved Book of Great Teachers, a plaque in Purdue Memorial Union that honors the best teachers throughout Purdue's history. Murphy was a History professor at Purdue between 1927 and 1970. More

Communication professor honored at Purdue Honors Convocation

Ralph Webb Jr., professor of Communication, was one of 17 honored April 17 during the university's annual Honors Convocation at the Elliott Hall of Music. More

Liberal Arts student honored at Honors Convocation

Emily Gurry, of Atlanta, received the $500 Flora Roberts Award for the outstanding graduating woman.

Gurry, who will graduate with degrees in both Sociology and Psychology, has worked as both a resident assistant and a research assistant. She was the first student to receive Purdue President Martin C. Jischke's One Brick Higher Award, which honors community service.

The award is made possible through a bequest by Flora Roberts of the Purdue class of 1887. More

EXPERTS IN THE NEWS

Associated Press –
No training wheels needed: New trike bike could take fear out of junior's first solo ride
(Scott Shim, Patti and Rusty Rueff Department of Visual and Performing Arts)

Washington Times –
Study: Working poor use less sick time
(Sandra Barnes, Department of Sociology and Anthropology)

NewsHour with Jim Lehrer –
Papal legacy
(James Davidson, Department of Sociology and Anthropology)

The Washington Post –
Shifting gear
(Porter Shreve, Department of English)

The Washington Post and Indianapolis Star –
Burn, baby, burn those calories by staying active
(Darlene Sedlock, Department of Health and Kinesiology)

Voice of America –
Panelists push for political will to reconcile former Yugoslavia
(Charles Ingrao, Department of History)

Lafayette Journal and Courier –
Vietnam's legacy lives on
(Patrick Hearden, Department of History)

Lafayette Journal and Courier –
Pontiff left legacy of peace, local scholars say
(Donald Mitchell, Department of Philosophy)

Lafayette Journal and Courier –
'Unfortunate' that politics played role, professor says
(William McBride, Department of Philosophy, and Patricia Boling, Department of Political Science)

Senior Journal (San Antonio, Texas) –
Purdue offers dual doctorate including aging issues
(Gerry Hyner, Department of Health and Kinesiology)

Logansport Pharos Tribune –
Fraternally challenged: What is causing the decline of local club memberships?
(Richard Hogan, Department of Sociology and Anthropology)

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

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