Three Kalamazoo College faculty members from the English, music and political science departments have been awarded tenure.
The tenure milestone recognizes excellence in teaching, scholarship and service to the College, and signifies its confidence in the contributions these professors will make throughout their careers.
The following faculty members were approved by the Board of Trustees for tenure and promotion to associate professor:
Shanna Salinas
Arcus Social Justice Leadership Assistant Professor of English and Co-Director of Critical Ethnic Studies Shanna Salinas
Salinas teaches 19th, 20th and 21st century American literary and cultural studies with an emphasis on American race and ethnicity. She received her bachelor’s degree in American literature and culture with a minor in Chicana/o Studies from UCLA; and her master’s degree and doctorate in English from UC Santa Barbara.
Her published work includes “Raced Bodies, Corporeal Texts: Narratives of Home and Self in Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street;” Critical Insights: Virginia Woolf and 20th Century Women Writers, 2015; “Coloring the U.S.-Mexico Border: Geographical Othering and Postbellum Nation Building in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening (Studies in American Fiction 41.1, Spring 2018); and “For the Pleasure of the Chicanx Poet: Spatialized Embodied Poetics in Ana Castillo’s My Father Was a Toltec,” New Transnational Latinx Perspectives on Ana Castillo, ed. Karen Roybal and Bernadine Hernández (forthcoming, Pittsburgh University Press).
Beau Bothwell
Assistant Professor of Music Beau Bothwell
Bothwell has taught courses in ethnomusicology, music theory and music history since completing his Ph.D. in musicology at Columbia University in 2013. He received B.A.s in music history and ethnomusicology/jazz studies from UCLA, and previously taught at Columbia, the Juilliard School, the American University in Beirut, and the New School.
Beau’s research addresses the music, media and politics of the Arabophone Middle East and the U.S. He has published in a range of venues, and co-translated (with Lama Zein) Ali Kisserwan’s two-volume analysis, the Compositions of Mohammad ʿAbdel Wahab for Umm Kulthum. He is also co-chair of the Society for Arabic Music Research, President of the Michigan Festival of Sacred Music, and founding co-director (with Ahmed Tofiq) of the Kalamazoo College Middle Eastern Orchestra, the Bayati Ensemble.
Justin Berry
Assistant Professor of Political Science Justin Berry
Berry teaches Introduction to American Government; Race, Law and U.S. Politics; Constitutional Law; the Presidency and Congress; and Voting, Campaigns and Elections. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Villanova University, master’s degrees in education and educational leadership from Loyola Marymount University and Fielding Graduate Institute respectively; and a doctorate in political science and international relations from the University of Southern California.
A term in distance learning created many firsts for Psychology Professor Siu-Lan Tan (upper left), her Social Development class (pictured), Developmental Psychology class, and their co-authorship projects this spring.
A term in distance learning forced faculty to rethink how they teach and conduct their courses at Kalamazoo College this spring. That was especially true for Siu-Lan Tan, K’s James A. B. Stone Professor of Psychology.
Tan normally has her Developmental Psychology class work, one-on-one and in person, with children at Woodward Elementary School. Together, through a co-authorship project, they write and illustrate their own storybooks, revealing the children’s wondrous minds and creativity. Tan’s Social Development class was also set to get involved this term with a group of slightly older children. Yet once upon a time, a pandemic came along, forcing schools to close and K students to spend a term away from campus. A happy ending to this story was in doubt.
“I told my classes I cried for three days,” Tan said. “I knew I’d really miss seeing my students, and I thought the experiential components of the class would have to be dropped.”
Nevertheless, after watching a news report about bored children and stressed-out parents, Tan wanted to get creative to fill a need. She decided her students could attempt the co-authorship project if they paired virtually with young relatives, or children of acquaintances, and worked together via Skype, Zoom, FaceTime and other methods. In fact, if they were successful, it meant the distance learning component would allow the classes to take their projects beyond Kalamazoo for the first time in the program’s 22 years.
“I knew if we could get the kids’ minds to flourish during self-quarantining, that would be a major accomplishment,” Tan said. “I’m not somebody who could be on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic to help with medicine. I can’t sew or make masks. But in a way, the classes were our way of trying to brighten lives.”
K students in Developmental Psychology paired with 5- to 8-year-old children, and Social Development students collaborated with children aged 8 to 12. Tan taught her students to use scaffolding, a method of guiding children to achieve goals as independently as possible, by providing questions, prompts, clues, and other tools. But, she wondered, would college students be able to scaffold young children remotely via a computer screen?
By the end, children stuck at home without school made new friends while participating in stimulating activities, parents were eased of their home-schooling duties for a little while, and K students were wowed by what children can create. Here are some of the results.
Carter Vespi ’21 partnered with a 7-year-old boy from Atlanta, Georgia, in the co-authorship program. The pair created Flion the Flying Lion, a player in the Animal Football League, who enjoyed practicing on Mars.
Developmental Psychology Flion the Flying Lion
When Carter Vespi ’21 partnered with a 7-year-old boy from Atlanta, Georgia, the two began their friendship by drawing together. The boy was good at drawing the solar system, with the planets identified and all in order.
“He told me how in school he had recently learned to draw a lion,” Vespi said.
After noticing that the lion the child drew had wings, Vespi asked, “Can he fly?” And in no time, they brainstormed Flion the flying lion, the namesake and hero of their story. Flion is a professional football player in the Animal Football League. He goes to Mars to practice because he enjoys playing in low gravity.
“Flion had a big game coming up so he came back to Earth, where his team played a game against the Tigers,” Vespi said. “Of course, with a flying lion, Flion’s team easily won 49-7.”
In the co-authorship program, Anne Kearney Patton ’22, of Birmingham, Alabama, worked with twin 7-year-olds and created Arty the Painting Dragon.In the co-authorship program, Anne Kearney Patton ’22, of Birmingham, Alabama, worked with twin 7-year-olds and created Arty the Painting Dragon.
Arty the Painting Dragon
Anne Kearney Patton ’22, of Birmingham, Alabama, partnered with 7-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, who she previously knew from working in her church’s nursery.
When the twins were frustrated by the drawing process, Patton told the kids to try drawing a heart for the dragon’s head and an oval for the body, prompting one of them to yell, “Oh yeah, and triangles for the wings!” Arty the dragon was born.
“Arty fell into magical paint and found himself in Candy Land, where he started eating the houses,” Patton said. “The ocean was made of melted blue chocolate.”
The plot describes Arty’s process for making amends to the owners of the homes he ate.
“Something I’m taking away from this is that what we learn in the classroom can be applied to real life,” Patton said. “I enjoyed it. I’m pleasantly surprised I could find a class this engaging considering it was distance learning.”
Noah Coplan ’21 worked in the co-authorship program with Logan, the 6-year-old son of Kyla Day Fletcher, the Lucinda Hinsdale Stone Associate Professor of Psychology, to create Ringo the Dragon and his paintbrush sidekick, Colorful.
A Dragon’s Home is Its Castle
Noah Coplan ’21 didn’t know any 5- to 8-year-old children going into Developmental Psychology, but was matched through Tan with Logan, the 6-year-old son of Kyla Day Fletcher, K’s Lucinda Hinsdale Stone Associate Professor of Psychology.
“He’s a funny kid,” Coplan said. “He’s super bright, really talkative and he tells you exactly how he feels. I would wind him up with a question and let him go.”
That questioning led Logan to create a dragon named Ringo and his sidekick, a paintbrush named Colorful. The two win a painting contest by illustrating a castle that becomes their prize, which they give away to another character, Toothscary.
Logan and Coplan quickly developed a friendship. In fact, Logan was comfortable enough with his partner by the time midterms came that he told Coplan, “You look tired. Did you take a nap today?”
“It was the little things that mattered to me with this class,” Coplan said. “I would tell him, ‘I have to go, I have more homework to do.’ Immediately he would say, ‘Can you call tomorrow?’ Even on our last call he had more plot-line plans. It was cool to see that kind of stuff.”
Fletcher was equally pleased.
“I’m a big believer in the experiences Logan gets to have with people other than me and my husband,” she said. “It was an opportunity for him to sit and be boundlessly creative, and then channel that creativity into producing a book of his own. Just the time he spent with a college kid and the attention he got is the wonderful part. Noah was absolutely amazing with him.”
Lillian, 8, and Eleanor, 6, created Kitty Luke.Lillian, 8, and Eleanor, 6, the daughters of Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology Jennifer Perry, drew Kitty Leia.
Star Wars Meets Kitty Mermaids
You’ve heard of catfish, but what about kitty mermaids?
Ola Bartolik ’22 guided Lillian, 8, and Eleanor, 6, the daughters of Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology Jennifer Perry, through their story following the Four Ferocious Kitties, four cats that live in a magical potion factory. A potion spills and spreads, creating kitty Jedi and kitty mermaids, including Snowflake, Lightfury, Luke and Leia, who conduct an epic battle with Cat Vader and Darth Kittious.
Eleanor taught Ola how to draw Mermaid Kitties.
“I was nervous meeting them,” Bartolik said. “I remember talking to my friend beforehand and asking, ‘What if I’m not cool enough for them? What if we don’t come up with anything?’”
But during their first meeting, there was a chance to break the ice.
“I thought I heard roosters in the background and they said, ‘Yes! We have chickens!’ It led to a whole conversation about chickens and what they do. Even their little brother would talk with me.”
Perry was grateful her girls had someone else to talk to, even if it was from a distance.
“I typically homeschool my kids and I was looking for educational opportunities for them that are different than what I might be able to offer at home,” Perry said. When the girls first met Ola, “I told them we were going to turn on the computer and talk to this student and they sort of looked at me funny. They weren’t excited at first, but Ola was enthusiastic about talking to them and listening to what they were saying. I could see the girls getting more and more excited. They loved working with her.”
Social Development
Play Ball, They Call, While Including All
Although most in Social Development created a book for a general audience, Saahil Patel ’21 and his cousin, a 12-year-old girl, developed a book specifically for another cousin, a 7-year-old boy.
“She told me our cousin had recently developed an interest in sports, and we wanted our plot line to solve a problem,” Patel said. “She was always the shortest in her class and got picked last for teams so she wanted to create a book that showed no one should be excluded from participating in sports.” As an added challenge to the project, his cousin wanted the story to rhyme, given her love of Dr. Seuss.
At the end, the 12-year-old added a dedication to the book to make her cousin feel special.
“I was shocked by this, as this level of consciousness and thought is usually developed later in life,” Patel said. “But as usual with this project, she continued to outperform my expectations for her. As a college student, you get so used to working with other college students. Dr. Tan said not to underestimate our partners, and my cousin blew me away with her ability. She made it easy for me.”
Teaching About the Pandemic
Raphaela Varella ’20 and her 9-year-old cousin created a book that tells children about what people are doing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.Raphaela Varella ’20 and her 9-year-old cousin created a book that tells children about what people are doing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Raphaela Varella ’20, a psychology and biology major, came to K from Los Angeles as a Posse Scholar, although she has family in Michigan. That family includes a 9-year-old cousin in Traverse City, who was excited to help with the co-authorship project.
“The first time we FaceTimed, I thought it would be for 30 minutes,” Varella said. “We did it for two hours because she was so into it.” Over the next several weeks, Varella met with her cousin regularly.
Work sessions included Disney music, drawing, coloring and brainstorming ideas for their plot. Because the book was intended for a younger child, the duo decided to craft a story that explained the COVID-19 pandemic and why it meant children couldn’t go to school or play at a friend’s house. That meant Varella would ask her cousin questions such as “Why do you think people are staying home?” and “How does that impact people?”
Ultimately, Varella’s cousin surprised her with her creativity and they were happy to find a unique opportunity to build on their relationship.
“It’s hard for her not to have an older sister,” Varella said. “I always wanted to be there for her, and this has helped me to be a role model. I’m thankful for being able to foster such a connection with her.”
In class, Varella mentioned that she plans to continue doing creative projects with her cousin.
“That’s one of the most moving outcomes of this quarter’s project. Some had barely known their younger relatives, occasionally seeing them at family events.” Tan said. “Many students expressed how relationships with younger siblings, cousins, nephews and nieces, had gotten closer and felt forever changed.”
Laura Hanselman ’20 and her 11-year-old partner, Alexis, created a book titled It Started with a Rainbow for the co-authorship project.
Animals Learn Kindness
Laura Hanselman ’20, a chemistry major from Ann Arbor, plans to follow in her dad’s footsteps as a dentist one day. When she does, she might have a book called It Started with a Rainbow in her office’s waiting room.
The book, created by Hanselman and an 11-year-old family friend, Alexis, provides advice on what it means to treat others with kindness. The partners started by drawing rainbows and proceeded to build a plot featuring anthropomorphic animals with alliterative names such as Daisy the Dog, Peter the Pig and Rowan the Rabbit.
“The story starts where the dog does something nice thing for the frog, and at the end, the kindness came back to a pig doing something nice for the dog,” Hanselman said of their pay-it-forward-themed story. “She was definitely nervous at first, but everything she came up with was excellent. She surpassed my expectations.”
Course Reflections
The co-authorship program this year included a story created entirely in sidewalk chalk between the homes of a student and her 6-year-old neighbor, who practiced social distancing and used their own chalk.For the first time, the co-authorship program included a book first written in a foreign language (French) and translated into English.
All told, the K students wrote stories with more than 40 children in many states, including Alaska, and even a couple of international locations. Despite the initial disappointment of distance learning, the courses yielded several successes and many firsts for the project, including:
A story created entirely in sidewalk chalk between the homes of a student and her 6-year-old partner. The two practiced social distancing and used their own chalk.
A student and partner who completed the co-authorship while camping and observing social distancing.
One story first written in French between a student and her French cousin living in France, before it was translated into English.
A record three sets of twin children writing stories alongside K students.
“The variety of children, stories and drawings that we see every time has been one of the greatest sources of interest and joy for me as the project always has many colors,” Tan said. “But this year, the rainbow is even fuller as the students have individualized their partnerships with children in so many different ways, more than I ever could have imagined.”
With respect to this project, Tan reflects: “I always wanted to teach in a way that takes learning outside the classroom. As long as learning is just contained within a space and not linked outside, there’s a real limitation on growth. That’s why it had such an impact on me to see how the tremendous dedication and resourcefulness of the K students made this co-authorship project so bright, during a quarter of distance learning.”
The pandemic of novel coronavirus has reshaped our world and transformed our institution in profound ways. Over the last few weeks as we pivoted sharply to take our classes online, we have seen the painful and unequal impact of the virus-related changes and restrictions on our most vulnerable students. We have witnessed how disparities in access to technology and internet service affect student learning. We have also witnessed the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black, Brown, Latinx, and immigrant communities in Kalamazoo and across the nation. We know that many of our community members have lost loved ones and are grieving them now. The pain of losing relatives and coping with the death of over a hundred thousand people in a few short weeks has been exacerbated by our inability to mourn them together and by the knowledge that many of these deaths were preventable. Our pain and frustration have been compounded by the violent murder of unarmed Black people by white racists.
The lynching of Ahmaud Arbery for being Black while running, the shooting of nursing student Breonna Taylor by police as she slept in her bed, the killing of Black trans man Tony McDade by Florida police, and the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police have shaken us to our very core. The incident in New York’s Central Park involving false allegations made by a white woman named Amy Cooper against a Black birdwatcher has also been a chilling reminder of how Black and Brown folks are harmed by large and small daily acts of white entitlement, untruthfulness, and aggression. We cannot go on without acknowledging how this violence affects us as people and as members of the Kalamazoo College community committed to social justice. We stand in solidarity with protesters in the US and around the world calling for an end to the murder of Black people by police, and for abolition, decolonization, and Black liberation now.
Beyond the discourse of institutional diversity as an asset, we want to strive together to create a different reality in which our Black, Brown, trans, queer, and gender non-conforming community members’ lives are valued, cherished, and protected. How do we move forward in light of these new realities? We need historical perspective to help us discern the crossroads where we stand—a place of both convergence and disjuncture. We need to learn from and mobilize forms of historical memory and anti-racist coalitional work now more than ever.
We need to move forward together. During the past week, we have heard from you: in emails, in video conferences, in phone calls, in SMS texts, in posts on the K-College Facebook site, and ongoing informal and formal correspondence.
To Black students, we have heard your anger at what is happening on campus, of the wearying effort to just be heard during this term and your years at K. Beyond Kalamazoo, we have heard you tell of what is happening outside your doors and in your communities. We have heard your righteous anger and justified fear. We have smelled the smoke of fires burning outside your doors and heard the sounds of sirens, not from the news or Facebook or Instagram, but from your own lives and your own witnessing. We have seen parents and siblings walk in and out of your screens and so felt the immediate presence of those you love and who love you, and who make it possible for you to be part of the K College community. And, for some, the turmoil and anger mixes with the grief of family members, friends, or neighbors who have lost loved ones or feared the loss of a parent, grandparent, relative, or friend who contracted COVID-19.
To non-Black students of color, we have witnessed you engage in acts of solidarity and moral courage. We have learned of you providing transportation and aid to protesters and filming protests. We know you have been challenging anti-blackness within your own communities. We have heard you tell us of how you have reached out to friends and fellow students who absorbed in traumatic and inexpressible ways the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and Ahmaud Arbery. And you have told us of your own experiences, when you felt able and heard, of what it means to walk in a Brown body on our campus and in the streets.
To white students, we have heard your own struggles with negotiating the pandemic and the violence perpetrated upon George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, and others. Albeit in very different ways, these struggles also exist within your own communities, and, in painful ways, among friends and family members. We are hearing you give language to systemic racism. We are learning of difficult family conversations. We are reading emails reaching out to us in support of students of color, especially Black students navigating the impact of the past week (and weeks).
To first-generation students, for those who have had to work many hours to help their families, or struggled to find secure housing, we have watched the burden and your response to it unfold during the past weeks. We have witnessed your struggles with housing and food insecurity. We have also seen folks risk the vulnerability of speaking, loving, and standing in solidarity.
At the end of this long academic year, everyone is carrying the added burden of the lockdown, quarantines, illnesses, family health concerns, curfews, and this next cycle of social unrest. All of us are suffering, but especially Black students, faculty, and staff. We must collectively recognize the impact of these events on our community members’ well-being.
As we acknowledge that we are differently positioned within the institution and in the world, we can work together by prioritizing Black, indigenous, queer, trans, and people of color leadership within this historically predominantly white institution. Attempting to think from and with the point of view of the most marginalized among us will help us overcome some of the enduring inequalities that limit the free enjoyment of our learning community by all.
We understand that completing academic assignments may be very difficult, even impossible for some, especially for students who are being and have been affected by systematic racism and violence. The quarter’s Credit/No Credit grading format provides flexibility to professors to extend grace, accommodations, and alternative projects to satisfy requirements for passing a class. It invites, too, a framework for faculty to use remaining time and assignments as tools for timely critical reflection, taking stock of what is truly necessary at this point. We can alter expectations without lowering standards.
We wish to encourage faculty to adjust expectations for final work, including canceling exams or making assignments optional wherever possible. This is a time when we need to make peace with doing enough instead of doing the usual and students just need to do enough to pass.
At the end of his address, “In Search of a Majority,” delivered to students, faculty, and staff at Kalamazoo College in November of 1960, James Baldwin said: “Whether I like it or not, or whether you like it or not, we are bound together forever. We are part of each other. What is happening to every [Black person] in the country at any time is also happening to you. There is no way around this. I am suggesting that these walls—these artificial walls—which have been up so long to protect us from something we fear, must come down.” Let’s dismantle these walls together.
The Kalamazoo Valley Museum was abuzz with bee exhibits last June during Art Hop. Niko Nickson ’21 was a Kalamazoo College representative presenting displays on native bees. Nickson now is a student behind the Southwest Michigan Bee Watch, still actively recruiting citizen scientists on World Bee Day.
There’s been a buzz in the national news as Asian hornets, also called murder hornets, have appeared for the first time in the northwestern U.S. The two-inch-long invasive insects have frightening stinging power and are significant predators of honeybees.
As the world marks World Bee Day on May 20, Kalamazoo College Biology Professor Ann Fraser said she doesn’t expect Asian hornets to arrive in Michigan any time soon but they could be a threat to local honeybees if they arrive.
“I got to see some of these Asian hornets when we were in India in December,” Fraser said. “Some people were fighting them off with sticks or even cricket bats. But can they survive in this climate with Michigan’s winter? I’m not sure of their range in terms of temperature tolerance. And are they going to decimate the honeybee population? Probably not, but they’ll certainly take out some hives.”
Nonetheless, climate change, habitat loss and pesticides are already threatening bees worldwide and have been for years. That makes World Bee Day—which marks the 1734 birthday of Slovenia-born Anton Janša, a pioneer in modern-day beekeeping—essential for preservation. The international affair, established in 2018 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, recognizes the world’s 20,000 species of bees, including about 465 in Michigan. A number of these are in decline, including some of our bumblebees. Fraser said habitat loss and pesticides are of particular concern as food sources are disappearing for bees, and neonicotinoids, which are pesticides chemically similar to nicotine, are deadly for them.
World Bee Day recognizes the world’s 20,000 species of bees, including about 465 in Michigan. Bumblebees like this one can be found at the Lillian Anderson Arboretum.
To work against the declines caused by these threats, swarms of World Bee Day events will be conducted virtually this year, and Fraser recommends acting locally. For example:
Fraser is recruiting citizen scientists from nine counties in Southwest Michigan for the Southwest Michigan Bee Watch. She and her students, including Niko Nickson ’21, are tracking bumblebee diversity and measuring local restoration efforts. Residents from Allegan, Barry, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph and Van Buren counties are invited to participate. Learn more about volunteering at the organization’s website.
Fraser and Nickson recently participated in a virtual Lunch and Learn through Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, discussing general bee facts and the Southwest Michigan Bee Watch. You can watch the recorded event on YouTube.
You can take the sting out of habitat loss for bees by planting a diverse array of native wildflowers that provide food for pollinators. Minimize your use of insecticides and shelter bees by providing bare ground, limiting mulch in flower beds or providing a stem nest. A stem nest typically is a wood block with drilled holes in various sizes and hollow plant stems or paper tubes. Varieties are available at many hardware stories, gardening stores and retail centers.
To bee or not to bee is not the question: bees are vital to humans. And when it comes to World Bee Day, Fraser says, “Anything that puts the spotlight on them can help them thrive.”
Padlet is a colorful online system of boards, documents and web pages, which has been convenient for art classes in distance learning.
In examining how Kalamazoo College students, faculty and staff have adjusted to distance learning this spring, it’s easy to see the community’s ingenuity in shifting from in-person instruction.
For example, if it’s true that art imitates life, what is an art professor to do when distance learning forces a college’s classes online? If you’re Sarah Lindley, the Arcus Center of Social Justice Leadership Professor of Art, you paint plans that provide students with the personal interaction they expect, sculpt activities they can do at home with common household materials, and craft an environment that stimulates creativity in technology.
Padlet has been a convenient tool in distance learning for World Pottery, a class that introduces a variety of clay-forming techniques and historical perspectives.
Lindley this term is teaching World Pottery, a sophomore seminar ceramics class, and Mold Processes, an intermediate sculpture class for juniors. The first requires student research and reflection in a class that introduces a variety of clay-forming techniques and historical perspectives. The intermediate class uses mixed media casting processes to develop the more advanced body of work expected of art majors.
The sophomore seminar’s technology is Padlet, a colorful and easy-to-populate online system of boards, documents and web pages that looks a lot like many social media platforms, especially Pinterest. The format allows an asynchronous course model where students view instructions through mediums such as video and submit their projects before meeting individually with Lindley.
Arcus Center of Social Justice Leadership Professor of Art Sarah Lindley provided video through Padlet of how to create a pinch pot at home when a special guest made a cameo appearance.
Their first project involved creating pinch pots with paper and egg whites in an activity like papier-mâché. A second assignment asked students to stack objects from around the house, look at their curves and see how they might emulate pottery.
The juniors also utilize virtual classroom technology, including the use of Microsoft Teams, a collaborative platform that combines chat, video meetings, file storage and more to allow for regular face-to-face exchanges. Lindley wants her advanced students to build confidence for creating art under any circumstances and learn they can start a project from nothing. Lindley added creating something from nothing can feel like one of the hardest things to do and developing that skill will help her students for the rest of their lives.
“A lot of what we are doing this term is creative problem solving,” Lindley said. “Course planning is creative problem solving. This is just a more extreme version than we are used to. I’m also hearing from a lot of students that they really appreciate a curriculum that acknowledges different learning styles.”
So, given the term in distance learning, how does Lindley measure the success of her teaching methods this term?
“I look for indications of depth of learning in lots of little ways—an unanswered question someone raises in a reflection paper, a connection to contemporary pop culture in a presentation on historical objects from a distant past, or an “aha” exclamation in a one on one virtual chat,” Lindley said.
“My goal would be for everyone to participate in each activity this term,” she added. “The students still have rubrics, but students would have to persistently not respond to assignment prompts and feedback not to pass. So far the quality of work has been pretty good to great.”
With Kalamazoo College’s motto being Lux Esto, or Be Light, it makes sense that the International Day of Light, celebrated each year on May 16, is significant for some in the K community.
The International Day of Light, every May 16, helps Kalamazoo College spotlight Kurt D. Kaufman Professor of Chemistry Jeff Bartz and the College’s laser lab, which has supported dozens of students in their Senior Individualized Projects.
The date marks the anniversary of the first successful operation of a laser in 1960 by physicist and engineer Theodore Maiman, and calls on the general population to support scientific partnerships and their potential to foster peace and sustainable development.
Organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Day of Light recognizes the role light plays in science, culture, art, education and sustainable development, within professional fields as diverse as medicine, communications and energy. The broad theme allows many sectors of society to participate in activities that show how technology and culture can help achieve education, equality and peace.
On such a day, it feels natural for K to spotlight Kurt D. Kaufman Professor of Chemistry Jeff Bartz, a physical chemist, who guides the research performed by students at K’s laser lab, an uncommon research tool at liberal arts colleges and institutions of K’s size. Lasers play common roles in everyday life such as in supermarket barcode scanners, laser surgeries, and industrial cutting and fabrication. But Bartz and his students test theories in photodissociation, the branch of chemistry concerned with the chemical effects of light. Such research is fundamental in examining how molecules hold together or fall apart in Earth’s atmosphere.
Founded at K in 2001 with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the laser lab has supported dozens of students in their Senior Individualized Projects. Recently, students in the laser lab have researched the photochemistry of nitrous acid, an important source of hydroxyl radicals in the atmosphere. The presence of hydroxyl radicals affects the concentrations and distribution of greenhouse gases and pollutants in the atmosphere. When light dissociates nitrous acid, the products are the hydroxyl radical, symbolized with OH, and nitric oxide, symbolized with NO.
“Usually, people performing research will pick one to study [OH or NO] and try to infer what the other product is doing,” Bartz said. “But our lab now has the technology to have one student studying one product [OH or NO] and one student studying the other. We plan to have a full picture by studying both products directly. So this is a nice opportunity for our students. We always try to do something no one else has been doing, but we’re jumping out a little farther with this research.”
When asked what the greatest thing to come out of the laser lab has been, Bartz didn’t hesitate with his answer.
“That’s the students,” he said. “They’ve gone on to do some amazing things. Because of their work, the College is able to receive money from organizations like the NSF. These grants mean students can present their research at regional and national meetings, and I’ve been invited to give talks around the country. That’s a result of their hard work.”
Kalamazoo College is excited to welcome Mj Huebner as its new vice president for admission and financial aid. Huebner is coming to K from the University of Texas Permian Basin, where she has been the interim vice president of enrollment management.
Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez announced today that Mj Huebner will join the liberal arts institution as the new vice president for admission and financial aid. Huebner, interim vice president of enrollment management at the University of Texas Permian Basin, will begin her new role on Sept. 8, 2020.
Huebner comes to K with nearly 30 years of higher education experience. In addition to leadership positions in admission and enrollment management at institutions such as Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana, Huebner has worked as a trusted colleague with nearly 40 colleges and universities across the U.S. as an enrollment management consultant. In these various roles, Huebner has demonstrated her ability to evaluate critical data and trends, analyze and implement enhanced approaches for recruitment and financial aid, fine-tune marketing and communication strategies, and drive key enrollment metrics.
“We are excited that Mj brings a wealth of experience from a wide variety of colleges and universities, both as a member of the leadership team and as an outside consultant,” said Gonzalez. “Her strong focus on data analysis, measurement and continuous improvement, combined with her upbeat personality and positive management style, make her a great fit for K.”
As an alumna of Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, Huebner also understands personally the value of a liberal arts education.
“I am honored to have the opportunity to support K’s mission to foster enlightened leadership in an increasingly uncertain and complex world,” said Huebner. “Building on K’s strong, time-tested tradition of excellence, our challenge for the future will be to stay relevant, top-of-mind and beloved. Greeting that challenge with enthusiastic authenticity, optimism and diplomacy will be a privilege.”
Huebner was selected after a nationwide search conducted by an on-campus committee with the assistance of Napier Executive Search, an executive search firm specializing in higher education and enrollment management. Comprised of faculty and staff, the committee was chaired by Vice President for Student Development and Dean of Students Sarah Westfall.
Peer Writing Consultant Caryn Hannapel ’20 is among those who have served Kalamazoo College students with their essays and assignments. By hiring students who have distinguished themselves in academics or library research, the Learning Commons allows students to share their strengths and benefit from peers.
Collaboration is one of the great experiences in higher education, and Kalamazoo College’s Learning Commons empowers it. By hiring students who have distinguished themselves in academics or library research, the Commons allows students to share their strengths and benefit from peers.
“That feeling of being shoulder to shoulder is one of the most valuable things we provide,” Learning Commons Director Bela Agosa said. “Learning isn’t meant to be a solo activity. Otherwise, we wouldn’t come to a college.”
Despite a term in distance learning, away from the Learning Commons’ physical location in the library, that collaboration continues. When students need assistance this spring, they meet securely online with Learning Commons peer consultants through any computer or mobile device with an up-to-date browser. And Agosa wants students to have confidence in that experience.
“It’s still the same people,” Agosa said of the Learning Commons peer consultants. “Distance learning has imposed some restrictions. But overall, we still provide the same great service. Our consultants are committed and worked hard over spring break to learn the new system. It showed me that the Learning Commons would be up to par this term.”
Examples of services available through the Learning Commons include:
The Writing Center: Peer writing consultants examine a student’s assignment to offer observations and suggestions and guide students through the process of clarifying and strengthening their ideas.
English as a Second Language assistance: International students and students who have English as a second language may receive consultations on any assignments or activities related to their academic experience.
The Math-Physics Center: Students may receive assistance with a variety of specific classes or just generally in math or physics. Even students who aren’t necessarily stuck and just appreciate collaboration can benefit from reaching out.
Research Consultant Center: Reference librarians are available for individual consultations to help students find the ideal resources they need for their daily assignments and research.
The Center for New Media Design: Assistants help students throughout their design processes through creating and designing presentations, posters, flyers, illustrations, infographics, photographs and brochures.
“Our aims as a Writing Center have not changed,” Agosa said. “The way we approach our services has not changed. We’re still here as a sounding board for writers and we still support students with math, physics and more. Our peer consultants are very dedicated and we believe in the work they do.”
Writing Center and English as a Second Language appointments are available by logging in at kzoo.mywconline.com. Learn how to make a Math-Physics Center appointment at its website. Email the reference librarians at reference@kzoo.edu for assistance from the Research Consultant Center. For assistance from the Center for New Media Design, email Graphic/Multimedia Designer Kathryn Lightcap at kathryn.lightcap@kzoo.edu.
Kim Aldrich (middle) pictured with Alumni Engagement colleagues at Homecoming in 2018, was recognized Friday as the recipient of the Lux Esto Award of Excellence. The honor is awarded annually as Kalamazoo College marks Founders Day.
YouTube video: President Gonzalez surprises honorees with news of their awards
Kim Aldrich ’80, Kalamazoo College’s director of alumni engagement, is this year’s recipient of the Lux Esto Award of Excellence. The award, announced Friday to celebrate Founders Day marking the College’s 187th year, recognizes an employee who has served the institution for at least 26 years and has a record of stewardship and innovation.
The recipient—chosen by a committee with student, faculty and staff representatives—is an employee who exemplifies the spirit of Kalamazoo College through excellent leadership, selfless dedication and goodwill.
President Jorge G. Gonzalez credited Aldrich for her wide-reaching collaborations in the K community, her networking skills and being an embodiment of the guidelines for the award. He also noted that nominees said Aldrich “brings general brightness and passion to her work, both in her everyday interactions on campus as well as with our alumni and friends of the College.”
Counseling Center Director Kenlana FergusonAssociate Professor of Psychology Brittany Liu
In accordance with Founders Day traditions, two other employees also received individual awards. Associate Professor of Psychology Brittany Liu was given the Outstanding Advisor Award, and Counseling Center Director Kenlana Ferguson was named the Outstanding First-Year Student Advocate Award honoree.
Gonzalez complimented Liu as an empathic listener who easily builds relationships with students while building on advisees’ successes and their opportunities for improvement.
He said Liu “takes time to learn of her advisees’ passions, interests and goals, and understands that those often evolve with the student throughout their time at K.”
In honoring Ferguson, Gonzalez recognized her work in first-year forums, the JED Set-to-Go program for students transitioning from high school to college, and the Steve Fund crisis text line that supports students of color.
“The confidential nature of her work allows some of her impact with individual students to fly under the radar,” Gonzalez said. “Even so, we have witnessed many occasions when first-year students turned the corner due to her involvement in their lives.”
The physical building is closed during distance learning, but National Library Week running through April 25, provides plenty reason for students to engage the Kalamazoo College library.
Current events are providing an additional reason to engage with Kalamazoo College’s library during National Library Week, April 19-25.
Thanks to College Archivist Lisa Murphy and her colleagues, members of the K community have an opportunity to document this unique time in our history by recording their COVID-19 pandemic-related stories and experiences in the College’s collections. Students, faculty, staff and alumni are eligible to participate.
“The COVID-19 pandemic will forever define the year 2020,” College Archivist Lisa Murphy said. “Fifty years from now Kalamazoo College students and other researchers will want to know what it was like to be a student during this time. How did they cope with the sudden switch to online learning? Was social distancing difficult? Were they scared? What did they do for fun if they were confined indoors? This pandemic has already changed lives and capturing these stories now will help to document how not just the college, but the world, has transformed.”
When their submissions are made, participants will have the option to remain anonymous or to make their work available for research or publication after a certain time period has elapsed. Read the Archives website for information about how to participate.
In regards to other services, students, faculty and staff are commending the library and its staffers for continuing to connect them with reference materials and resources through the term in distance learning.
“We curate online resources for our students, faculty and staff so they don’t have to rely on an overwhelming amount of information,” Library Director Stacy Nowicki said. “The easiest thing is to Google the information you need. But we can help you determine what the best resources are that aren’t going to show up in Google. “And sometimes the resources we pay for aren’t as intuitive, but they are more authoritative. We can teach people how to use the technology and add depth to their experience when they do research or prepare for class.”
For example:
If you’re not sure where to begin with your projects or assignments, the online Research Guides can help you get started. Check out the A to Z List of Databases if you know what specific resource you want to use.
Reference librarians can help students and faculty find the ideal resources they need for their daily assignments and research. They’re available for individual consultations through email, web calls and virtual chats in teams. Sign up for an appointment with them at reference@kzoo.edu. If you have a specific question, submit through the ask a librarian online form.
If you’re looking for a specific book or journal, easy online resources are at your fingertips. Find journals online through the BrowZineYou can also access online journals and thousands of ebooks through Library OneSearch.
Interlibrary Loan (ILL) supplements the library’s resources by providing materials not available on campus. Through ILL, students, faculty and staff may obtain materials such as books, chapters, and journal articles that are not available in the library collection. To request materials through Interlibrary Loan, complete and submit a request form in the Interlibrary Loan system.
For further summaries of available library services, check out the guide for faculty and the guide for students online. The guides will be updated as more services and resources become available.
