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student-athletes recognize Teachers

UNCP's Student Athlete Advisory Committee will honor more than 40 teachers, including several from the College of Arts and Sciences, for their teaching and commiment to students on Faculty Appreciation Night, February 7, 2013. A ceremony will take place during halftime of the men's home basketball game.

This year's honorees from the College of Arts and Sciences are Ryan Anderson (History), Larry Arnold (Music), Joyce Beard (Nursing), Debra Branch (Social Work), Gwenyth Campen (Mathematics and Computer Science), Anthony Curtis (Mass Communication), Katherine Denton (Foreign Languages), Camille DeVaney (Music), John DiSarno (Political Science),Cindy Edwards (Social Work), Warren Eller (Public Administration), Dena Evans (Nursing), Jeff Frederick (History), Kevin Freeman (Political Science), Nicholas Freeman (Psychology), Jeffery Geller (Philosophy and Religion), Amy Gross (Geology and Geography), Linda Hafer (Mathematics and Computer Science), Jo Ann Hart (Art), Scott Hicks (English and Theatre), Jason Hutchens (Mass Communication), Mary Ann Jacobs (American Indian Studies), John Labadie (Art), Siva Mandjiny (Chemistry and Physics), Stephen Marson (Sociology and Criminal Justice), Rohald Meneses (Sociology and Criminal Justice), Brandi Norman (Biology), Sara Oswald (English and Theatre), Linda Oxendine (American Indian Studies), Shilpa Pai (Psychology), Nathan Phillippi (Geology and Geography), Enrique Porrua (Foreign Languages), Ray Sutherland (Philosophy and Religion), Meredith Storms (Chemistry and Physics),and Mary Zets (Biology),.

Stremlau's book honored

Sustaining the Cherokee Family: Kinship and the Allotment of an Indigenous Nation, by Dr. Rose Stremlau (History), was awarded the Willie Lee Rose Book Prize from the Southern Association of Women Historians. This is for the best book on any topic in Southern history written by a woman and published during the previous calendar year. The award is named after Willie Lee Rose, a path-breaking female historian and professor at Johns Hopkins University who wrote about race and slavery in the South. The award was presented by Dr. Janann Sherman, professor and chair of the History Department at the University of Memphis.

Sustaining the Cherokee Family also was given an honorable mention by the committee deciding the Wheeler-Voegelin Prize, an award given each year by the American Society for Ethnohistory for the best book-length monograph published the previous year. The book also was a finalist (one of six) for the Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize, which is given each year by the Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln to the best book on a topic related to the region published during the previous year.

Flowers presides over ACS technical session

Dr. Paul Flowers (Chemistry & Physics) presided over a technical session on Electroanalytical Chemistry at the 2012 Southeast Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, held this year in Raleigh, NC. The session featured eight presentations, including one by Dr. Flowers titled "Sub-microliter Electrochemistry and Spectroelectrochemistry using Standard Electrodes and a Polymer Electrolyte Salt Bridge." The presentation abstract was coauthored by UNCP undergraduate David Blake, and the talk described traits of a novel device recently designed by Dr. Flowers that permits the chemical analysis of very small volume samples (as low as about 20 nL, roughly one-tenth the size of a typical grain of salt). Results of this research have been submitted for publication in the journal Analytical Chemistry.

UNCP Faculty, Staff lead Educational Trip to Washington, DC

By Dr. Scott Billingsley (History)

On Thursday October 4, 2012 twenty-three students, faculty, and staff departed the Amtrak station in Fayetteville, North Carolina, bound for the nation’s capital.  Mike Severy (Student Leadership and Involvement), Amy Gross (Geology and Geography), and Dr. Scott Billingsley (History), guided the students on a four-day learning experience that included a tour of the United States Capitol building, visits to national museums and monuments, and, for some, the unique experience of traveling by rail and navigating their way around a large city.

Traveling via Amtrak dominated the first day and last day of the journey.  Students were taken by bus to the Amtrak station in Fayettevill,e where we boarded the train around 1:00 p.m. and enjoyed the leisurely ride to Union Station in Washington, D.C.  Along the way we saw a side of the nation that one normally does not see when traveling by car or airplane.  For many of us, one of the interesting things about the train ride was getting to see the centers of many small towns along the eastern seaboard.  Although seeing bustling downtown areas would have been commonplace for travelers a century ago, our students saw simply the remnants of the heyday of small-town life in America.  Even the trip from Union Station to the hotel via Washington’s subway system, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (“the Metro”), was a learning experience for students who had never ridden public transportation before.

On Friday the group toured the U.S. Capitol and then split up to explore sites around the Capitol and National Mall.  Students visited sites such as the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the various Smithsonian Institution museums.  Later that afternoon students met near the Washington Monument to discuss the research projects they were supposed to complete before arriving in Washington.  Each student conducted a short research project on different protest rallies that had been held on the National Mall since the 1890s.  The students placed these protest rallies into the context of the leadership model that the students had been studying in their Living Learning Community Leadership program.  After our discussion we visited the World War II Memorial, the Vietnam War Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean Veterans Memorial, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.  On Saturday we completed a scavenger-hunt activity prepared by Amy Gross at the Museum of Natural History, which gave students an overview of the entire museum.

UNCP sends delegation to National Museum of the american indian

UNCP's Office of Academic Affairs sent a delegation to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., on November 16. Two students, Lydia Locklear and Francine Cummings, joined Dr. Alfred Bryant, associate dean of the School of Education, Carlene Cummings, university library specialist for special collections, and Dr. Mark Canada, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, on the trip.

The delegation met with two NMAI administrators--Associate Director David Penney and Community Services Specialist Jill Norwood--and discussed several opportunities for UNCP students and faculty:

Living Earth Festival: Students are welcome to propose projects to present at the fourth annual Living Earth Festival, set to take place in August 2013.

Internships and Fellowships: NMAI internships and fellowships provide students with opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills.

Scholarly Exchanges: The NMAI welcomes scholars who can share their expertise in various aspects of American Indian studies.

Colloquia and Symposia: NMAI-sponsored colloquia and symposia provide opportunities to exchange information.

After the meeting, the members of the delegation took a VIP tour of the museum and met informally with Jimmy Locklear, a Lumbee who serves as the museum's volunteer coordinator.

Dr. Alfred Bryant, Francine Cummings, Lydia Locklear, Carlene Cummings, and Dr. Mark Canada pose in front of Sacred Rain Arrow, by Chiricahua Apache sculptor Allan Houser. The group saw the sculpture and other exhibits during a VIP tour of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

"Weightless Lumbees" visit elementary school

Dr. Tim Ritter (Chemistry and Physics) led a group of "Weightless Lumbees" in a trip to Baldwin Elementary School in Fayetteville in November.

The "Weightless Lumbees" are a group of UNCP students who study micro-gravity. In past years, some members of the group have had the opportunity to conduct their experiments on an airplane in a weightless environment in a program sponsored by NASA.

During the visit, Dr. Ritter and the students guided the students in science experiments, and the students watched a video of the experiments the "Weightless Lumbees" conducted on the airplane.

 

Culver participates in meetings and gives presentation

At the end of September, Dr. Annika A. Culver (History) participated in a round of meetings on policy recommendations concerning US-Japan issues for the next administration through the US-Japan Network for the Future while at a retreat in Whitefish, Montana. Activities also included media training, discussing foreign policy issues to a general audience, and career development training on how to translate academic work into recommendations useful to policy-makers. In addition, members of the Cohort shared their research and recent publications and presentations. The competitive program is funded by the Mike and Maureen Mansfield Foundation, and supports the mentoring of the next generation of Japan specialists in the US. Having been chosen for this prestigious program and serving from 2012-2014, Dr. Culver has the honor of being the only academic from the South teaching at a public institution. For more information, please see the website: http://mansfieldfdn.org/program/dialogues/u-s-japan-network-for-the-future/.

In mid-June, Dr. Culver spent a week in the head office of the Honda corporation in Washington, DC receiving updates on the state of the US-Japan Alliance through the US-Japan Network for the Future, where participants visited different organizations, agencies, and congressional and senatorial offices, along with attending talks by Japanese Ambassador Fujisaki, diplomats from the US and Korea, Pentagon officials, US trade representatives, NGOs working in the Tohoku region devastated by the earthquake, cultural exchange specialists, and treasury officials. Dr. Culver and her Cohort also met with congressional and senatorial staffers to learn how East Asia-related issues are communicated to Congress and the Senate.

During Labor Day weekend at the East-West Center International Conference at Peking University, Dr. Annika A. Culver gave a presentation on "US-Japan 'Soft Power' Relations and a Rising China" in a panel on conflict resolution. Ambassador Gary Locke gave the keynote address, and Chinese officials and academic leaders also introduced the conference, which featured discussions on the future of the Pacific Rim area. It received two full days of coverage in the English-language China Daily newspaper, which boasts a high circulation in China.

faculty publish and present work on Fracturing, sacred geography, Language learning, and more

Scholars across the college have shared their work in the forms of both articles and presentations. A list appears below.

Articles

• Ben Bahr (Biology/Chemistry and Physics) with K. Viswanathan, D.J. Hoover, J. Hwang, M.L. Wisniewski, U.S. Ikonne, and D.L. Wright, "Nonpeptidic Lysosomal Modulators Derived from Z-Phe-Ala-diazomethylketone for Treating Protein Accumulation Diseases." ACS Med Chem Lett. 2012.
• Mark Canada (English and Theatre), “Stories of Today: Rebecca Harding Davis’s Investigative Fiction,” Journalism History, July 2012.
• Eun Hee Jeon, (English and Theatre), "Oral Reading Fluency in Second Language Reading." Reading in a Foreign Language, 2012.

• Robert O. Schneider (Public Administration), “Hydraulic Fracturing and the Need for Risk Assessment,” Journal of Emergency Management, August 2012.

• Jay Hansford C. Vest , "The Landscape of Amotken and Sinchlep: Lolo Peak and the Missoula Valley as Salish Sacred Geography," International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, May 2012.

• Jay Hansford C. Vest , "The Legend of Jump Mountain: Narrative Dispossession of the Monacan in Post Colonial Virginia," American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 2012.
• Jay Hansford C. Vest, "'Love You Not Me?' Pocahontas and the Virginia Masque: A Jacobean Drama in the Glade," Journal of Intercultural Disciplines, spring 2012.
• Jay Hansford C. Vest, "Pocahontas, John Smith and Terrance Mallick's The New World: Colonialism in Cinematic Sophistry," International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, July 2012.

Presentations

• Bill Brandon (Chemistry and Physics), "Hacking for Humanity: Building an Inexpensive Amplitude Modulated Laser," NCS-AAPT Fall 2012 Meeting, High Point University, High Point, NC, November 17, 2012
• Bill Brandon (Chemistry and Physics), "Red, Green and Blue Laser Table: Regulated, Adjustable Intensity for Less than Twenty Dollars," NCS-AAPT Fall 2012 Meeting, High Point University, High Point, NC, November 17, 2012
• Bill Brandon (Chemistry and Physics), "Evidence of String Theory?," NCS-AAPT Fall 2012 Meeting, High Point University, High Point, NC, November 17, 2012
• Mark Canada (English and Theatre), “Thomas Wolfe, ‘Return,’ and the Asheville Citizen,” annual meeting of the Thomas Wolfe Society, May 2012.
  Mark Canada (English and Theatre), participant in dramatic reading of The Mountains, annual meeting of the Thomas Wolfe Society, May 2012.
• Annika Culver (History), "US-Japan 'Soft Power' Relations and a Rising China," East-West Center International Conference at Peking University, September 2012.
• Eun Hee Jeon (English and Theatre), with J. Yamashita, "A Meta-analytic Review of L2 Reading Component Tests," Language Testing Research Colloquium, April 2012.
• Eun Hee Jeon (English and Theatre), organizer of colloquium called "Component-skills Approach to L2 Reading: Findings, Challenges, and Innovations," Association for American Applied Linguistics, March 2012.
• Eun Hee Jeon (English and Theatre), with H.P. Tran, "Contribution of Metacognitive Reading Awareness to L2 Reading Comprehension," Association for American Applied Linguistics, March 2012.
• Jay Hansford C. Vest, ''Will-of- the-Land: Reprising the Traditional Wilderness Ideal via Chaos Theory and Pikuni Mythology," Under Western Skies 2: Environment, Community, and Culture in North America, October 2012.
• Jay Hansford C. Vest, "Tcé Mantu and Theism: The Question of God in Innu (Montagnais-Naskapi) Traditions," International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities, June 2012.
• Jay Hansford C. Vest, Plenary Lecture: "When N'api Dances Day: Myth, Orality and Process in Pikuni(Blackfeet) Trickster Narratives," International Conference on Myth, Orality and Folklore in World Literature (with special reference to Rabindranath Tagore), School of Languages and Literature, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra, Jamma & Jashmir, India, March 2012.

Other

• Judy Curtis (Mass Communication), external peer reviewer for faculty member at LSU-Alexandria.
• Mike Spivey (Sociology and Criminal Justice), "It's All About Time," review of Michael Flaherty's The Textures of Time: Agency and Temporal Experience, Symbolic Interaction, September 2012.
• Mike Spivey (Sociology and Criminal Justice), co-producer with Stan Knick of the documentary film Waccamaw Indian People of South Carolina, October 2012.
• Guo Wei (Mathematics and Computer Science), chief reveiwer, Higher Mathematics--A Layered Tutorial, published by Shanghai Finance University Press, 2012.

 

 

Lowry, Pino present work at NC-LSAMP Conference

Two UNCP students, Austin Lowry and Caridad Pino, made poster presentations at the North Carolina Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (NC-LSAMP) Undergraduate Research Conference at North Carolina A&T State University on Sept. 21. Lowry received an Honorable Mention in the Technology division. Pino competed in the Life Sciences division.

Lowry and Pino, along with UNCP students Olivia Bullard and Tiffany Scott, are continuing to work on their projects and will compete at the American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES) Undergraduate Poster Session sponsored by the All Nations Alliance for Minority Participation (ANAMP) at the Annual AISES National Conference and Career Fair in Anchorage, Alaska, in early November.

Nursing program receives NUrse's Touch grant

The Department of Nursing's RN program has received a Nurse's Touch Product Grant from ATI Nursing Education.

Thanks to this grant, Nursing faculty will be able to use Nurse's Touch, an online program designed to help nursing students build professional and interpersonal skills, for a year.

UNCP's grant application was one of only two selected from a pool of more than 120. ATI has relationships with more than 2,000 institutions of higher education in the United States.

bahr honored for work as mentor

Dr. Ben Bahr (Department of Biology and Department of Chemistry and Physics) has received a 2012 Outstanding Mentor Award from the Council on Undergraduate Research (Biology Division).

Professor Bahr, the William C. Friday Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry, has served as mentor to more than 30 students since joining the faculty at UNCP in 2009. Working in his lab at UNCP's Biotechnology Research and Training Center, students have collaborated with Professor Bahr to conduct research on brain diseases, research that may lead to treatments for Alzheimer's disease and other disorders. The student projects have been productive, resulting in several publications as well as presentations at meetings of the North Carolina Academy of Science, the Society for Neuroscience, and the Gordon Research Conference series. Of the 13 student researchers from the Bahr Lab who have graduated, 8 of them have been accepted to or are attending graduate, medical, or professional school, two have recently applied to graduate school, and two are working at biotech companies in North Carolina.

An internationally known expert on age-related neurodegenerative disorders, Professor Bahr has presented his research in 15 countries and is author of more than 100 articles in scientific journals, nearly a third of which include undergraduate co-authors from the three universities where Professor Bahr has been a faculty member.

Founded in 1978, the CUR is an advocate and resource for undergraduate research. Its members come from more than 900 colleges and universities.

Brown, Curtis, and santos honored for teaching

Three faculty members from the College of Arts and Sciences received Outstanding Teaching Awards this year.

Dr. Monika Brown (English and Theatre) was honored with the award for the third time since joining the faculty in 1982. An expert in British literature, she has taught numerous courses, including The British Novel, Victorian Literature, Adaptations in Music and Film, and The Teaching of Writing. "Her passion for teaching literature inspires her students to study those great works, and fall in love with them, too," explains Loreen Bessire, who has known Dr. Brown as a professor and, after joining the English faculty, as a colleague. "Simply put, not only do I hold Dr. Brown in high esteem, but I also have considered her to be [a] role model for teaching and professionalism over the last five years.” Outside the classroom, Dr. Brown has conducted research on a number of topics, including Goethe's Faust and composition pedagogy, and has published articles on George Eliot, Joseph Conrad, film adaptations of novels, and the teaching of Madame Bovary and The Turn of the Screw.

Dr. Tony Curtis (Mass Communication) joined the UNCP faculty in 2002 after serving on the faculty at Penn State University and Salisbury University in the University of Maryland system. He teaches courses such as Feature Writing, Photojournalism, and Investigative Journalism, but he also is interested in various forms of new media, including blogs, wikis, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, and Second Life. He is the author of numerous books and articles, as well as the creator of several Web sites, such as Space Today Online.  "The moment I met Dr. Tony, my life was changed forever," says Caroline Goins, one of Dr. Curtis's former students. Goins recalls that Dr. Curtis became "a key supporter" of her success and adds, "He shows the same support to all of his students by getting to know them-their interests, goals and learning style to create a personalized learning roadmap for success."

A member of UNCP's faculty since 1997, Dr. Marilu Santos (Biology) has taught courses in microbiology, genetics, microbial physiology, virology, and other subjects. More than an outstanding teacher, Dr. Santos also has been a successful researcher, having published her work in publications such as the Journal of Genetics and the International Journal of Business, Marketing, and Decision Sciences. “Research keeps my mind focused on the limits of one's knowledge," she explains. "It means being plagued and intrigued by the obscurity of the findings. Teaching, on the other hand, makes me realize how far mankind's knowledge already extends and how many questions have already been answered." One of her students, Stephanie Edwards, says, “Under Dr. Santos’ mentorship, I became more adept in problem solving, data collection and analysis, and scientific writing. I attribute a significant amount of my success to Dr. Santos.”

Hart receives award for part time faculty

Jo Ann Hart (Art) is this year's recipient of UNCP's Oustanding Teaching Award for Part Time Faculty. Hart, who also was named a Most Valuable Professor by UNCP's student-athletes this year, teaches courses such as Elements of Design, Art Appreciation, and Survey of Art I: Ancient Through Medieval. "She challenged students and insisted on them learning the proper terminology and encouraged them to use proper techniques," says Trudy Coleman, an education major who is minoring in art.  "Our assignments were not only interesting but were very challenging and extremely informative.  She did an excellent job of tying the assignment to the terms and concepts of art.  She pushed all of her students to a level of achievement that they had not been pushed before especially in that course of study.  I very much enjoyed her class and felt it to be extremely enriching.”

Hansen honored for creative work

Professor Holden Hansen (English and Theatre) is this year's recipient of the Adolph L. Dial Endowed Award for Scholarship/Creative Work. Hansen, formerly an assistant and an associate professor at UNCP, was promoted to the rank of professor this year. A veteran acting teacher, he also has directed several student productions, including The Laramie Project and The Crucible. His creative work also comprises numerous acting roles in plays such as Driving Miss Daisy, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, Raney, The Boys Next Door, Smoke on the Mountain, Baby, The Seafarer, and Inherit the Wind. He recently performed with Academy Award winner Colin Firth in the feature film Arthur Newman, Golf Pro and is set to perform in the forthcoming film 42, directed by Academy Award winner Brian Helgeland.

Nikkel wins Board of Governors' Award 

Dr. David Nikkel (Philosophy and Religion) is UNCP's 2012 recipient of the prestigious Board of Governors' Award for Excellence in Teaching. Awarded to only one professor at each of UNC's 17 campuses each year, the BOG is the university's highest honor for outstanding teaching. 

Nikkel, a 20-year veteran who has been at UNCP since 2002, teaches a wide range of courses, including Introduction to Religion, Introduction to Religious Ethics, History of Western Religious Thought, Philosophy of Religion, Advanced Studies in Eastern Religions and Philosophies, Religion and Science, and Religion, Art, and Culture.  

"David has it all," Mark Canada, dean of Arts and Sciences, said. "Inside and outside the classroom, he exhibits an impressive grasp of his subject, as well as a warm manner and an engaging presence. He also is a fine scholar and a leader on campus, as well as one of the most thoughtful, conscientious people I know." 

An expert in the relationship between religion and science, Nikkel is the author of the book Radical Embodiment, as well as numerous articles about the theologian Paul Tillich, the philosopher William James, and other subjects. His second book, The Varieties of Mystical Experience: William James and Paul Tillich, is forthcoming.  Nikkel also serves as chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion, a member of the Faculty Senate, and a member of the university's Quality Enhancement Plan Committee, charged with designing and implementing a plan to promote writing instruction on campus. 

An ordained minister, Nikkel pastored three churches in Ohio and taught as an assistant professor at Hastings College in Nebraska before coming to UNCP. He is a graduate of Duke University, where he earned a Ph.D. in Religious Studies, and Yale University, where he majored in mathematics.

MPA student receives Cigna scholarship

William Henry Munn III, a student in UNCP's Master of Public Administration program, is the first recipient of the Cigna Ulysses Ford Memorial Scholarship, awarded by the Cigna Foundation. The scholarship, named for a member of the National Forum for Black Public Administrators, is in the amount of $5000. The scholarship, along with two other scholarships, was presented at NFBPA's annual conference in May.

Schaub receives essay award

Professor Melissa Schaub (English and Theatre) received the Northeast Modern Language Association Women's and Gender Studies Caucus Essay Award for her essay "Middlebrow Feminism and the Politics of Sentiment: From The Moonstone to Dorothy L. Sayers." The essay was revised from a conference presentation at the NeMLA annual meeting in April 2011 in a special topics panel on sensation fiction. The prize is awarded annually by the Women's and Gender Studies Caucus. For more information, visit the Caucus's Web site.

EXhibition will feature students' work

Art by several UNCP students will be on display at the Student Prints Exhibition, a statewide invitational printmaking exhibition, at 311 Gallery in downtown Raleigh May 4-26, 2012. An opening reception is set for 6 to 9 p.m. May 4. A postcard advertising the exhibit features work by four UNCP students: Kasey Hooker, Lindsay Roberts, Allison Ellis, and Lateesha Caswell.

Cherry Laurel Scholarship will go to Reels

Essence Reels is the first recipient of the new Cherry Laurel Scholarship, an award created to acknowledge the perseverance of students in the face of adversity. Named after the native Carolina Cherry Laurel tree, which is known for its resilience against damaging winds brought about by hurricanes and other storms, the scholarship recognizes students' determination in overcoming obstacles and succeeding during their first two years at UNCP. Reels was chosen by a selection committee with members from various departments.

Reels received two nominations and was praised for her positive outlook and determination to stay in school. It was clear to the committee that she had shown a remarkable amount of persistence and optimism, overcoming numerous personal obstacles. As a representative of the Cherry Laurel Scholarship, she will have the opportunity to advise UNCP administration on matters related to student success as well as mentor other UNCP students who face a range of setbacks.

Reels will be recognized at the annual Awards Day ceremony sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences at 3:30 p.m. on April 24 in the UC Annex. The public is welcome to attend this ceremony.

For more information about the Cherry Laurel Scholarship, see http://www.uncp.edu/advancement/news/articles/cherrylaurel.htm.

Smith will intern with Zip-Zap Circus

Natalie Smith (English and Theatre) has been accepted to intern with the Zip-Zap Circus in Cape Town, South Africa, for eight weeks this summer. She will teach aerial arts, dance, costume design, and makeup, as well as training in various art forms. Funded by Cirque du Soleil, Zip-Zap circus has performed all over the world. It attracts audiences of various ages and sponsors outreach programs for children with disabilities and those who are HIV-positive.

Fields teaches courses in dance, costuming, and makeup in the Department of English and Theatre. In the fall, she was co-director with Hal Fields of the student production of Chicago.

Hansen lands role in helgeland film

Professor Holden Hansen (English and Theatre) has landed a role in the feature film 42, which tells the story of Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball's color barrier when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. The film, directed and written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Brian Helgeland, will feature Harrison Ford as Dodgers executive Branch Rickey.

Hansen's previous credits include a part in the feature film Arthur Newman, Golf Pro and numerous plays. He also directs student productions, including the upcoming production of The Crucible, scheduled to run April 17-21 in the Givens Performing Arts Center.

Go-To Faculty serve as resources to students

The College of Arts and Sciences, in collaboration with the School of Business and the School of Education, has launched a new initiative designed to promote student success. More than 20 faculty members from across the campus will be serving as Go-to Faculty for any students who need help connecting with their advisors or professors, guidance in navigating the campus maze, or just a friendly face.

The Go-to Faculty will not replace advisors, but serve as an additional resource for students. Any UNCP student should feel free to e-mail, call, or visit one of the Go-to Faculty whenever they need help with anything.

Click here for a complete list of UNCP's Go-to Faculty.

UNCP graduate secures position at research institute

Emily Graves, a 2010 graduate from UNCP, has securd a job at the David H. Murdock Research Institute. While she was at UNCP, she was a RISE fellow, as well as an intern who worked with Professor Ben Bahr (Biology) in the William C. Friday Lab.

Graves is among the co-authors of "Equipotent Inhibition of Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase and Monoacylglycerol Lipase – Dual Targets of the Endocannabinoid System to Protect Against Seizure Pathology," recently published in the journal Neurotherapeutics.

ART Department earns NASAD accreditation

UNCP's Department of Art has become one of five North Carolina schools to earn accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). The department is now an associate member of NASAD, which includes approximately 309 educational institutions. The accreditation is the culmination of a lengthy self-study, as well as a site visit by representatives from NASAD.

MSW program secures accreditation

UNCP's Master of Social Work program, housed in the Department of Social Work, has earned accreditation from the National Council on Social Work Education. More than 50 students are enrolled in the program. Since its inception in 2008, UNCP's MSW program has graduated 40 students.

Nursing scores highest among system schools

The North Carolina Board of Nursing released NCLEX-RN 2011 results in mid-January. UNCP’s scores were the highest among all 17 UNC-system universities during 2011. All 19 graduates from UNCP's Department of Nursing taking the exam for the first time passed on their first attempts. UNCP’s first-time pass rates have increased every year since graduating its first pre-licensure BSN class in 2007.

billingsley collaborates on edited volume

Professor Scott Billingsley (History) has collaborated with B. Dwain Waldrep to edit a collection of essays. Recovering the Margins of American Religious History, a celebration of the life and work of David Edwin Harrell Jr., brings together essays from Harrell's colleagues, peers, and students that explore his impact and legacy in the field of American religious history. His pioneering studies of fundamentalism, pentecostalism, and the American restoration movement, as well as his concerns with class, gender, race, and regional identity, have made him one of the most respected scholars in his field. Combining an extensive knowledge of and long-standing passion for American religious history with a comprehensive understanding of the developing world, Harrell's research and writings over his lifetime have produced compelling portraits of the American religious underclass, an increased integration of religion into the narrative of world history, and innovative new comparative studies in the healing and charismatic movements of the developing world.

Billingsley, who teaches religious history and other history courses, is also the author of It's a New Day: Race and Gender in the Modern Charismatic Movement.

Cambridge to publish inbari's book

Professor Mordechai Inbari (Philosophy and Religion) has learned that Cambridge University Press will publish Messianic Religious Zionism Confronts Israeli Territorial Compromises, his book about the ways in which the rabbinical elite of the Israeli West Bank settlers responded to Israeli territorial compromises. The withdrawals, Inbari shows, challenged their messianic expectations and it was perceived as a setback in the path towards the coming of the Messiah. The book explains their profound disillusionment with the behavior of the state, reflected in an increase in religious radicalization due to the need to cope with the feelings of religious and messianic failure. The book will be part of a series on Middle Eastern politics.

Inbari's first book, Jewish Fundamentalism and the Temple Mount, was published in 2009.

Lambda Sigma Names Mandjiny Professor of the Semester

In December 2011, Professor Sivanadane Mandjiny (Chemistry and Physics) received the Professor of the Semester Award as voted upon by the student members of the Lambda Sigma Society. Lambda Sigma is a national honor society for sophomore students dedicated to fostering leadership, scholarship, fellowship, and service while promoting the interests of the university. Established at UNCP in 2009, the Beta Lambda chapter is affiliated with the Center for Academic Excellence. Each spring, the chapter invites the top 10% of the freshman class to join the society. The executive board includes Brittney Ford (president), Brittany Williams (vice-president), Ashlea Rey (secretary), Ladriania Hudson (treasurer), Mara Lankford (social chair), and Christen McCoy (membership chair). Advisors for Lambda Sigma include Dr. Elinor Foster (Library), Beth Froeba (Center for Academic Excellence), and Professor Meredith Storms (Chemistry and Physics/Arts and Sciences).

Flowers Publishes Article on Microspectrometry

Professor Paul Flowers (Chemistry & Physics) recently published an article in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Chemical Education describing a novel senior-level laboratory project involving microspectrometry (measuring interactions between light and matter on a microscopic scale).  The article will be available in next month’s print edition of the journal and is presently available via the web at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed200054k.  Acknowledged for their contributions to the experimental work presented in the article are two of Professor Flowers’ previous undergraduate research assistants (Cilia Iluku, pictured below, and Josie Torrence) and students in the spring 2009 and 2010 sections of his CHM 4270 “Instrumental Analysis” course.

national organization honors UNcp student

Layla Locklear, a sophomore majoring in Environmental Science, is the recipient of the distinguished “Woman to Watch” National American Indian Women Award. She was honored with the award during a banquet at the Conference for American Indian Women of Proud Nations (AIWPN). The conference was held on 16 September 2011, in Raleigh, North Carolina. (http://www.uncp.edu/biology/new/layla_locklear_award.html)

Santisteban attends premiere Genomics course

Professor Maria Santisteban (Biology) was a participant in the 2011 Short Course in Genomics held at the National Institutes of Health campus from July 24-29, 2011. She, along with 31 other faculty, was selected from a field of over 100 applicants to one of the premiere learning experiences in genomics.

The course focuses on the continuing effort to find the genetic basis of various diseases and disorders, as well as current topics on the ethical, legal and social implications of genomics. The six-day intensive course is designed to update biology instructors, as well as other instructors and researchers in related disciplines, on genomic science. The course is especially intended for instructors who train students from racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in health related sciences, as well as instructors from institutions that predominantly train students with disabilities and students from disadvantaged backgrounds, including certain rural and inner-city environments. (http://www.uncp.edu/biology/new/marisol_santisteban.html)

biology graduate publishes paper

Hollie Young-Oxendine, a former biology major and RISE Fellow, co-authored a paper, “Protective effects of positive lysosomal modulation in Alzheimer’s disease transgenic mouse models,” that was published this past June in the open access journal, PLoS ONE. Hollie was one of a team of researchers who worked on the five-year study, first initiated in Dr. Bahr’s former University of Connecticut laboratory, and recently completed in Dr. Bahr’s current lab in the Biotechnology Research and Training Center in Pembroke. Hollie contributed important results, as found in figures 1, 2 and 5 of the paper, and she presented some of the work at the 2010 Gordon Research Conference in Lucca, Italy. (http://www.uncp.edu/biology/new/hollie_young_oxendine.html)

 

Vest delivers lectures

Professor Jay Hansford C. Vest (American Indian Studies) delivered two lectures at the Midwest Culturally Inclusive Conference at the University of Wisconsin – Platteville on September 16-17.  In his first address, “Native Holistic Empathy: Challenging the Dynamics of Race in America,” he drew upon the traditional Native American practice of empathy with the ecology and cosmos in respecting all things as a means to generate a modern philosophical ideal in race relations.  In doing so, he reviewed the difference between racial encounters of discovery as practiced by Europeans and spirit encounters of empowerment as practiced by Native Americans as manifest in initial contact between races in America. In his second address, “Beyond Removal: Indian Survicance in the South and the Jim Crow Experience,” he explored factors affecting southern tribes such as the Monacan and Lumbee as impacted by the segregation policies after the Civil War. Other conference speakers were Dr. Cornell West, Gloria Ladson-Billings, and Jane Elliot.

Hansen will join Firth, Blunt in film

Professor Holden Hansen (English and Theatre) has been cast in the major motion picture Arthur Newman, Golf Pro, where he will act alongside Colin Firth and Emily Blunt. Hansen, who has taught acting and directed student productions at UNCP for more than a decade, is an experienced actor of both stage and screen. His numerous credits include the roles of Horatio and Claudius in theatrical productions of Hamlet, the role of Lysander in the play A Midsummer Night's Dream, the part of Hornbeck in the play Inherit the Wind, and the lead role in the play Light Sensitive, as well as parts in two movies and a television series. He has directed numerous UNCP student productions, including Sylvia and The Laramie Project. This spring, he will direct The Crucible, to be performed April 19-21 in the Givens Performing Arts Center.

Paparozzi will deliver keynote address

Professor Mario Paparozzi (Sociology and Criminal Justice) has been invited to deliver the keynote address at the North Carolina Juvenile Services Association Fall Conference this month in Carolina Beach. Representatives from the headquarters of the North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in Raleigh will be in attendance, along with court services personnel and treatment service providers from across the state.

Recent publications, Presentations, and Exhibits

Naidoo V, Nikas SP, Karanian DA, Hwang J, Zhao J, Wood JT, Alapafuja SO, Vadivel SK, Butler D, Makriyannis A, and Bahr BA (2011) A new generation fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitor protects against kainate-induced excitotoxicity. J Mol Neuroscience 43:493-502.

Butler D, Hwang J, Estick C, Nishiyama A, Kumar SS, Baveghems C, Young-Oxendine HB, Wisniewski ML, Charalambides A, and Bahr BA (2011) Protective effects of positive lysosomal modulation in Alzheimer's disease transgenic mouse models. PLoS One 6: e20501 (pp 1-16).

Rokes, Carla. "Exploring Critique in Foundations Art." FATE Regional Forum at The Art Institute of Atlanta-Decatur. August 6, 2011.

Rokes, Carla. Insatiable. Sixth Annual Kinsey Institute Juried Art Show. Indiana University School of Fine Arts Gallery. May 20-July 30, 2011.

2+2 Program promotes student-faculty interaction

In August, the College of Arts and Sciences rolled out its new "2+2" program, which can help faculty build campus community and promote student success. The program calls on faculty to pair up and attend campus events, such as plays and gallery openings, with two students.

Participants in the program can increase attendance for events and serve as role models for students, showing them how they can grow outside the classroom. They also can help to promote student success. Here is a relevant passage from the list of recommendations prepared by the university's Student Success Steering Committee:

Studies published in the Journal of College Student Development and the Journal of Engineering Education suggest that "[r]elationships with faculty were stronger predictors of learning than student background characteristics," such as race or ethnicity, and that faculty engagement with students is "significantly and positively related" to the development of "several design and professional skills" (Lundberg and Schreiner, 2004; Bjorkland, et al, 2004).

For a list of campus events, see the campus calendar.

Faculty and Students Shine

Numerous professors and students have brought distinction to the College of Arts and Sciences. Here are a few highlights:

• Professor Ben Bahr (Biology/Chemistry and Physics) published “Protective effects of positive modulation of the lysosomal system in transgenic models of Alzheimer’s disease” in PLoS One, secured a number of grants, and mentored two students for a conference presentation.
• Professor James Biederman (Art), the Martha Beach Distinguished Artist, won a 2011 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. The fellowship, established in 1925, funds research and artistic creation. It is a highly competitive award, with more than 3,500 applications for about 220 slots.
• Professors Kelly Charlton, Melanie Hoy, and Shilpa Regan (Psychology) mentored students for presentations at the Association for Psychological Science Convention.
• Latif Darden, a senior political science major, participated in the competitive Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Summer Enrichment Program for six weeks this summer.  Among other things, he met Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and visited the Embassy of Saudia Arabia and the World Bank.
• Jose D’Arruda (Chemistry and Physics) collaborated with David Gavasci of Robeson Community College to host the 5th Annual Robotics Workshop for teachers across North Carolina. 
• Doc Dillard, a recent UNCP graduate, will study Indonesian in Jakarta through the Critical Languages Scholarship funded by the US State Department.  He was only one of 575 students chosen out of a pool of 5200.  He hopes to go to graduate school after the scholarship and earn a master's degree in Asian Development and Asian Studies.
• Professor Dena Evans (Nursing) will publish "Animosity, antagonism and avatars: Teaching conflict management in Second Life" in Journal of Nursing Education in November 2011.
• After giving presentations at Humboldt University in Berlin, Professor Roger Guy and Professor Mario Paparozzi (Sociology and Criminal Justice) spent six days in Poland as guests of the Polish government.  While there, they gave conference presentations to audiences that included judges, prosecutors, prison officials, probation personnel, juvenile justice officials, scholars, and faculty specializing in the re-socialization of criminal offenders.  They also visited a federal prison, a youth correctional facility, a district court, and a probation office. Professors Paparozzi and Guy also will publish "Substance Abuse Technology: A Primer for Community Corrections Practitioners" in the Handbook of Evidence Based Substance Abuse Treatment in Criminal Justice Settings (New York: Springer, 2012).
• Rebecca Howell, a senior biology major, has been named a North Carolina Biotechnology Center (NCBC) Fellow for 2011.  Howell works in the laboratory of Professor Ben Bahr.
  
• Professor Jennifer Key (English and Theatre) was runner-up in the competition for the Tampa Review Poetry Prize.  Her manuscript is entitled “The Old Dominion.”
• Professor Roger Ladd (English and Theatre) published "Divine Contagion – On the Nature of Power in The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings" in Light Beyond All Shadow: Religious Experience in Tolkien's Work (Madison, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2011).
• Daniel Locklear, a senior biology major, was elected Junior National Student Representative to the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) Board of Directors. A national organization with 3,000 members and more than 10,000 alumni, the AISES seeks to increase the representation of American Indians in engineering, science, and related fields.
• Kristina Smith, a mass communications major, interned with ABC-11's Fayetteville-area reporter Gilbert Baez.
• Professor Rose Stremlau (History/American Indian Studies) has a book, Sustaining the Cherokee Family: Kinship and the Allotment of an Indigenous Nation, coming out from University of North Carolina Press.
• Professor Adam Walls (Art) won the Martin & Doris Rosen Award in an outdoor sculpture exhibition at Appalachian State for his sculpture "Surprise." Professor Walls later took “Best in Show” for his sculpture Getaway Car at the Cary Visual Arts 2011 Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition.
• Professor Laszlo Zsilinszky (Math and Computer Science) presented “Completeness properties in hyperspaces" at the Conference on Multivalued Analysis and Topology in Varenna, Italy, and “On beta-favorability of the strong Choquet game” at the 11th Topological Symposium in Prague, Czech Republic.
• The student cast and crew of Godspell traveled to Manteo, NC, for two performances at the Roanoke Island Festival in May 2011. Updated:

Thursday, January 17, 2013

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