Category: Faculty & Staff

Once Upon a Book, Now on Video

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Book cover for 'Once Upon a River'
K’s Summer Common Reading program joins new students, faculty, and staff in a conversation about a novel they’ve read during the summer. The author of the chosen novel visits campus during orientation each fall to join the conversation. It’s an important first step for new K students and part of the College’s nationally recognized First-Year Experience. Summer Common Reading 2012 author Bonnie Jo Campbell spoke about and read from her novel “Once Upon a River” in Stetson Chapel on Sept. 6. Campbell’s short story collection “American Salvage” was a finalist for the 2009 National Book Award in Fiction. Watch Campbell’s SCR address to students in this YouTube video.

K Economics Professor Publishes Third Edition of Textbook

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Professor of Economics Ahmed Hussen has published the third edition of his textbook–Principles of Environmental Economics and Sustainability: An Integrated Economic and Ecological Approach (Routledge, September 20, 2012).

New chapters in the book cover the economics of climate change, the economics of biodiversity and ecosystem services, “green” accounting and alternative economic and social indicators of sustainability, the business case for environmental sustainability, and an appendix that provides an historical account of the development of ecological economics.

College Congratulates K-Connected “Geniuses”

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Coincidence? Most certainly, but it is nevertheless fun to count the times a Kalamazoo College campus visit coincides with a subsequent “genius award,” a.k.a. the MacArthur Fellowship.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation recently announced the MacArthur Fellowships for 2012. On that list were Junot Diaz and David Finkel. Both were featured authors in K’s Summer Common Reading (SCR) program—Diaz in 2007 for his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Finkel in 2011 for his nonfiction work The Good Soldiers.

Past MacArthur Fellows with a K connection include Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (SCR author—Purple Hibiscus—in 2004, MacArthur Fellow in 2008); Aleksandar Hemon (SCR author—Nowhere Man—in 2004, and named a MacArthur Fellow the following month); and architect Jeanne Gang, who received a MacArthur Fellowship not long after her firm designed the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership.

“Is it cause and effect?” quipped Amy Smith, associate professor of English and associate provost. “Show up at K, get a genius award,” she smiled, no doubt aware that the timeline works in reverse as well. Edward P. Jones won the MacArthur in 2005 and was the Kalamazoo College SCR author (The Known World) two years later; Colson Whitehead got a MacArthur in 2002 and came to K in 2010 when his novel Sag Harbor was the SCR selection.

What is certain is that the SCR selection committee is very good at assessing major writing talent. The committee includes or has included Marin Heinritz, assistant professor of journalism; Andy Mozina, professor of English; Zaide Pixley, dean of the first-year and advising; and Diane Seuss, writer in residence.

K History Prof Discusses Influence of Julia Child

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To celebrate Julia Child’s 100th birthday, Professor Emeritus of History David Strauss recently joined a panel of food historians whose task was to consider Child’s continuing impact on the American food scene eight years after her death. Along with the panelists, 40 members of the National Arts Club in New York City first enjoyed a dinner comprised of four entrées, four vegetable dishes, and two desserts, including such signature dishes as boeuf Bourguignon, oven-roasted potato galettes, and mousse au chocolat, all prepared from Child’s recipes.   To conclude the evening, slices of los gatos gâteau cake (apricot and hazelnut)–a less familiar Julia Child dessert–were served.  In addition to Strauss, panelists included Andy Smith (The New School, New York), Patricia Parkhurst Ferguson (Columbia University) and Dana Polan (New  York University.)  Strauss’s presentation was informed by findings from his recent book titled Setting the Table for Julia Child: Gourmet Dining in America, 1934-1961 (The Johns Hopkins University Press).

K Psychology Professor and Student Publish Collaborative Research

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Siu-Lan Tan, John Baxa and Sally Warner in the Olmsted Room at Kalamazoo CollegePsychology professor Siu-Lan Tan and K alumnus John Baxa ’09 published a book chapter on their video game research in the book Interdisciplinary Advancements in Gaming, Simulations, and Virtual Environments (published in 2012 by IGI Global, edited by R. Ferdig and S. de Freitas). Their research focuses on the role of music and sound effects on video game performance in gamers with different levels of expertise. It is based on collaborative work between Tan and Baxa beginning in his sophomore year, continuing through his Senior Individualized Project, and extending beyond his graduation. Baxa is currently a graduate student pursuing a degree in Entertainment Technology at Carnegie Mellon University, where he will learn video game design and may be able to implement their research on sound design in future video games. Baxa (right) is pictured with Tan (center) last April, at her Lucasse teaching award presentation. Also shown is Sally Warner ’08 (left), who worked with Tan for three years to co-organize service-learning projects and assisted her on a book manuscript. Warner is currently working on a Doctorate in curriculum, instruction, and teacher education at Michigan State University.

K Economics Professor Advocates Long-Range Municipal Planning

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“Buffeted But Not Broken: Kalamazoo’s Five-Year Fiscal Plan” (by Kathy Jessup) describes the origin and development of the city’s long-range planning process, one that contains a further horizon than typical fiscal plans of other cities. Kalamazoo’s decision to engage in longer range planning has been invaluable in response to the economic downtown. Professor of Economics Hannah McKinney first proposed the idea of the Five-Year Fiscal Plan in 2005, when she served as the city’s mayor. McKinney has worked with the National League of Cities and champions the idea of pushing out financial planning horizons in order to better predict and manage both growth and downturns. Jessup’s article appears in the Michigan Municipal League’s magazine, The Review, and a longer version will come out this fall in the International City Managers Association’s publication.

Arcus Center Names 2012-13 Visiting Fellows

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The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership has announced Sonia Baez-Hernandez, MFA, and Karika Phillips, MA, as Visiting Fellows for the 2012-2013 academic year. Baez-Hernandez is a visual artist, filmmaker, scholar, human rights advocate and most recent artist-in-residence for Service Employees International Union (SEIU) from Miami, FL. She most recently produced an award-winning film, “Territories of the Breast,” that courageously explores difficult questions about human rights and healthcare. Phillips is a National Health Equity Leadership Institute Scholar, community organizer, and Ph.D. student at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. She will be on leave from the Kalamazoo County Government’s Health and Community Services Department where she serves as the Director for the Center for Health Equity (CHE) and Supervisor of the Community Action Agency. Read more about these leaders at https://reason.kzoo.edu/csjl/fellowships/visiting/current.

Kalamazoo College Professor Earns National Writing Award

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Visiting Professor of English Rachel Swearingen, Ph.D., has received a 2012 Rona Jaffe Award, the prestigious writing award given annually by the Rona Jaffe Foundation to six women “who demonstrate excellence and promise in the early stages of their career.” It’s the only national award dedicated to women writers. She will pick up her $30,000 award at a New York City awards ceremony on Sept. 20. Congrats, Professor!

K Professor Takes First Place in Literature Competition

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Kalamazoo College Writer in Residence Diane Seuss is the first-prize winner in Mid-American Review’s 2012 Fineline Competition for Prose Poems, Short Shorts, and Anything in Between! Judge Amelia Gray selected Seuss’s piece “I emptied my little wishing well of its emptiness” out of some 1,000 entries. The work will appear in the forthcoming fall issue of Mid-American Review.