Kalamazoo College Faculty Members Achieve Outside the Classroom

Kalamazoo College faculty members not only teach, also advise students, and serve on numerous committees that help direct the College’s academic programs, they publish books, essays, scientific papers, and other writings, and they receive awards, grants, and countless other accolades. Below are recent achievements by just a few K faculty members. Well done, professors!

(By the way, K has a very low (13-1) student-to-faculty ratio. Of the nearly 100 full-time “resident” faculty, 96 percent hold a Ph.D. or equivalent terminal degree.

 

Bob Batsell, professor of psychology, received a 2014-2015 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning grant, from K’s Teaching and Learning Committee, for his project “Test Enhanced Learning in the Psychology Classroom.”

Jeff Bartz, professor of chemistry, received a $220,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for his project entitled “Photodissociation Dynamics Studied by Velocity-Mapping Ion Imaging.”

Lisa Brock, academic director of the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership and associate professor of history, co-edited a special issue of the Radical History Review on the global antiapartheid movement.

Henry Cohen, emeritus professor of romance languages and literature, published the article “The river, the levee, love and confession: The thematic of Grazia Deledda’s L’argine” in Forum Italicum.

Kiran Cunningham, professor of anthropology, received a 2014-15 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning grant from K’s Teaching and Learning Committee, for her project “An Assessment of Transformative Learning through Change-Oriented Research.”

John Dugas, professor of political science and Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership associate, published two book chapters. “Old Wine in New Wineskins: Incorporating the ‘Ungoverned Spaces’ Concept into Plan Columbia,” appeared in U.S. National Security Concerns in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Concept of Ungoverned Spaces and Failed States. “Colombia” appeared in Politics of Latin America.

Peter Erdi, Luce professor of complex systems studies, co-authored Stochastic Chemical Kinetics, a book published by Springer.

Dennis Frost, Wen Chao Chen associate professor of East Asian social sciences, published “Sporting Disability: Official Representations of the Disabled Body at Tokyo’s 1964 Paralympics” in the Asia Pacific Journal of Sport and Social Science. He also received a 2014-15 scholarship of teaching and learning grant from K’s Teaching and Learning Committee for his project “Acquiring the Gift of Gab: Demystifying Public Speaking.”

Laura Furge, Roger F. and Harriet G. Varney professor of chemistry, published two papers with student co-authors: “Mechanism-based Inactivation of Human Cytochrome p450 3A4 by Two Piperazine containing Compounds” appeared in Drug Metabolism and Disposition; “Molecular Dynamics of CYP2D6 Polymorphisms in the Absence and Presence of a Mechanism-based Inactivator Reveals Changes in Local Flexibility and Substrate Access Channels” appeared in PLoS One. Also, her article “Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education” was published in Social Ecology of the Classroom: Issues of Inclusivity

Adriana Garriga-Lopez, assistant professor of anthropology and Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership associate, published “Azucar dura y melaza vaga” in the online journal 80grados.

Menelik Geremew is the new Stephen B. Monroe assistant professor of money and banking, a chair held by the faculty member within the Department of Economics and Business who teaches in the field of money and banking. Charles J. Monroe established this chair in 1966 in honor of his father, Stephen B. Monroe.

Christine Hahn, assistant professor of art and art history, has begun a three-year term on the College Art Association’s (CAA) Committee on Diversity Practices, one of CAA’s nine Professional Interests, Practices, and Standards Committees. Her committee supports the development of global perspectives on art and visual culture; promotes artistic, curatorial, scholarly, and institutional practices; and assesses and evaluates the development and implementation of curricular innovation, new research methods, curatorial and pedagogical strategies, and hiring practices that contribute to the realization of these goals. The Committee is committed to organizing conference sessions that address issues concerning race and ethnicity.

Autumn Hostetter, associate professor of psychology, had three articles published recently. “Gesture-speech integration in children with specific language impairment” appeared in the International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders; “Gesutre in Reasoning: An Embodied Perspective” appeared in The Routledge Handbook of Embodied Cognition; and “Action Attenuates the Effect of Visibility on Gesture Rates” appeared in the journal Cognitive Science. She also received a 2014-15 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning grant from K’s Teaching and Learning Committee for her project “Test Enhanced Learning in the Psychology Classroom.”

Patrik Hultberg, associate professor of economics, received a 2014-15 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning grant from K’s Teaching and Learning Committee for his project “Assessing the Flipped Classroom.”

Andrew Koehler, associate professor of music and director of the Kalamazoo Philharmonic won the American Prize in Orchestral Programming – Community Division.

Maksim Kokushkin, assistant professor of sociology published “Standpoint Theory is Dead, Long Live Standpoint Theory! Why Standpoint Thinking Should Be Embraced by Scholars Who Do Not Identify as Feminists?” in the Journal of Arts and Humanities.

Amy Lane, visiting assistant professor of sociology, received a 2014-15 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning grant from K’s Teaching and Learning Committee for her project “An Assessment of Transformative Learning through Change-Oriented Research.”

Charlene Boyer Lewis, professor of history, was selected into the Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lectureship Program.

 

Sarah Lindley, associate professor of art, had an exhibition at the Lansing Art Gallery titled “Of Consequences: Industry & Surrounds.” She also received a Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) Expanding Collaboration Initiative titled “Surrounding Industry and Environs: An Intellectual Resource Collective.”

Amy MacMillan, L. Lee Stryker assistant professor of business management and her co-authors received the award for best conference refereed paper from the Marketing Management Association for their paper “Improving the Collaborative Online Student Evaluation Process.”

Simona Moti, assistant professor of German, had her essay “Between Political Engagement and Political Unconscious: Hugo von Hofmannsthal and the Slavic East” published as a chapter in the edited volume of German Literature as World Literature.

Andy Mozina, professor of English, published Quality Snacks, a book of 15 short fiction stories.

Stacy Nowicki, Title IX coordinator and library director, was appointed by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to the Library of Michigan Board of Trustees.

Jennifer Perry, visiting assistant professor of psychology, received a 2014-15 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning grant from K’s Teaching and Learning Committee for her project “Test Enhanced Learning in the Psychology Classroom.”

Taylor Petrey, Lucinda Hinsdale Stone assistant professor of religion, published his article “Semen Stains: Seminal Procreation and the Patrilineal Genealogy of Salvation in Tertullian” in the Journal of Early Christian Studies.

Di Seuss, writer in residence and assistant professor of English, received residency at Hedgebrook, a writing retreat for women writers on Whidbey Island, Wash. Her essay/prose poem was published in Brevity and several of her poems have been selected to be published in the Missouri Review. Her piece “Wal-Mart Parking Lot” received the “½ K Prize” from the Indiana Review and her piece “Free Beer” was selected to be included in Best American Poetry 2014. Di is now in a tenure track position at K.

Mike Sosulski, associate provost and chair and associate professor of German, won 2014’s Best Article Award from the journal Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German with his article “From Broadway to Berlin: Transformative Learning through German Hip-Hop.”

Noriko Sugimori, assistant professor of Japanese, received a grant from the GLCA Expanding Collaboration Initiative for the project “Bringing East Asia to the Great Lakes Region: An Intergenerational Cross-Cultural Digital Oral History Project.”

Amanda Wollenberg, assistant professor of biology, was a recipient of a 2014-15 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Grant, from K’s Teaching and Learning Committee for her project “Assessment of Student Experiences in the Cell and Molecular Biology Lab.”.

Margaret Wiedenhoeft, associate director for the Center of International Programs, was selected as one of three co-editors of the forthcoming 4th Edition of NAFSA’s Guide to Education Abroad for Administrators and Advisors.

Michael Wollenberg, assistant Professor of biology, co-authored “Propioniobacterium-Produced Coproporphyrin III Induces Staphylococcus aureus Aggregation and Biofirm Formation.” a paper titled in mBio.

[Malllory Zink ’15, helped compile this list. Thanks, Mallory!]

Sports Award Named for Kalamazoo College Alumnus Charles “Mickey Charles” Tucker

Charles Tucker holding a basketball
Charles “Mickey Charles” Tucker ’56

Charles Tucker ’56 has been responsible for handing out a lot of athletic awards through the years. Now, one of those awards bears his name. Charles, known professionally as “Mickey Charles,” is founder, CEO, and president of The Sports Network, a Hatboro, Pa.-based wire-service providing sports information in real time.

Nearly 30 years ago, Tucker and The Sports Network (TSN) established the FCS awards by presenting the Walter Payton Award, given to the most outstanding player in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), known formerly as Division I-A and I-AA. The “Payton” is generally acknowledged to be the second most prestigious award in college football, following only The Heisman Trophy which is given to the most outstanding player in all of college football.

Through the years, TSN added the Eddie Robinson Award, given annually for FCS coach of the year, the Buck Buchanan Award for FCS defensive player of the year, and the Jerry Rice Award for FSC freshman of the year. All afforded smaller colleges and universities opportunities to expose their talented football players and coaches to a larger network. Past winners of these awards include National Football League standouts such as Tony Romo, Brian Westbrook, Jared Allen, Dexter Coakley, and many others.

On Dec. 15 in a nationally televised awards banquet in Philadelphia, South Dakota State University football running back Zach Zenner received the inaugural Mickey Charles Award for the most outstanding FCS student/athlete.

K Professor of Physical Education, Emeritus, Rolla Anderson, Charles "Mickey Charles" Tucker '56, the late Kalamazoo Gazette Sports Editor Bob Wagner and Herb Lipschultz '56 during a 2010 gathering on the K campus
K Professor of Physical Education, Emeritus, Rolla Anderson, Charles “Mickey Charles” Tucker ’56, the late Kalamazoo Gazette Sports Editor Bob Wagner and Herb Lipschultz ’56 during a 2010 gathering on the K campus.

Created in secret by Tucker’s TSN colleagues, the award created a stir when they announced it several weeks prior to the awards ceremony, resulting in a “deluge of congratulatory and complimentary messages from New York to London, Philadelphia to Paris, Detroit to Macau, Las Vegas to Rome,” said TSN Director of Operations Phil Sokol.

“All were indicative and reflective of Mickey’s standing in so many areas, not just sports.”

Kalamazoo College Provost Michael A. McDonald said “the FCS Mickey Charles Award for outstanding academic achievement is aptly named for a great student athlete—Kalamazoo College’s Charles Tucker (a.k.a. Mickey Charles), class of 1956. On the basketball court and in the classroom, his hard work and achievements did credit to higher education, the liberal arts, and Kalamazoo College. We at K are rightly proud of one of our ‘favorite sons.’”

K Professor of Physical Education, Emeritus, and retired Athletic Director Rolla Anderson said “My sincerest congratulations go out to “Charlie,” as he was affectionately called by his basketball coach and mentor (and my former colleague), the late Ray Steffen. I have so many fond memories of Charlie’s time at Kalamazoo College and his visits over the years. Congratulations, my friend.”

Born and reared in Bronx, N.Y., Tucker, a.k.a. Mickey Charles, launched The Sports Network from his kitchen table nearly 30 years ago. Since then, TSN has become the world’s largest independently owned supplier of sports scores and information, with more than 2,000 outlets globally. Today TSN is expanding geographically (into China, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Algeria, among others) and technologically (complementing its saturation of websites by expanding to mobile devices). It provides news, weather, injury reports, instant scores, Gamecasts, photography, fantasy coverage data, and much more.

Charles "Mickey Charles" Tucker '56 at The Sports Network's 26th Annual FCS Awards Presentation
Charles “Mickey Charles” Tucker ’56 at The Sports Network’s 26th Annual FCS Awards Presentation on Dec. 15, 2014. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)

Tucker transferred to Kalamazoo College from Columbia University and played for two seasons on the Hornet basketball team. He was named team captain his senior season of 1956, leading that squad to a 14-9 record and a second-place finish in the MIAA conference. He earned his law degree (Brooklyn Law School) and began a career as a sports columnist for several newspapers and magazines (including the Philadelphia Inquirer), as a television sports talk-show host (for CBS and later ESPN), as a college English professor (St. Joseph College in Philadelphia) and then, in 1983, as the founder of a sports scores telephone service that evolved into TSN. He is a popular public speaker who was once offered a contract as an opening-act stand-up comedian.

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell said “Mickey Charles is one of our sports-crazed nation’s most astute experts. But he is much, much more than that. He is an incredibly caring person who has done so much to help so many.”

National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman congratulated Mickey on the creation of the award that will bear his name “and will honor an FCS student’s successful combination of athletic achievement and academic excellence. A disruptor long before that term became trendy, Mickey is a scholar when it comes to sports business and a life-long friend of innovation. Mickey has a personality as big as the sports world and a heart that’s even bigger; it is a delight to see him recognized for decades of entrepreneurship, his devotion to education and his relentlessly positive approach to life.”

K on the Art Hop this Friday, Nov. 7

The Birds of Great Britain
“Nyctea Nivea.” Plate from John Gould’s “The Birds of Great Britain, London, 1862-1873.

Even if you don’t know much about art, there will be plenty to like this Friday, Nov. 7, 5-8 p.m., when K students, faculty, and the campus itself participate in the monthly Art Hop in downtown Kalamazoo.

“John Gould’s Glories” features beautiful images from the College’s permanent collection by this renowned 19th English ornithologist and artist. Aided by his wife, Elizabeth, Gould published numerous monographs and illustrations of birds from around the world. His famous “Darwin’s finches” played a key role in Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection.
5-8 p.m. – A.M. Todd Rare Book Room, Upjohn Library (third floor), 150 Thompson St., Kalamazoo College

The Miller-Johnson Art Scholarship and Exhibition for K students concludes in the Park Trades Center. Earlier this year, a jury of K art faculty selected artwork by K students Donna Aguilar ’15, Zoe Beaudry ’14, Lauren Gaunt ’15, and Gabe Montesanti ’15 to be displayed in the lobby of Miller-Johnson Attorneys and Counselors in downtown Kalamazoo. Each student also received $150 from Miller-Johnson. This Friday, the public may vote on their favorite among the four, with the top vote-getter receiving an additional $400! THANK YOU, MILLER-JOHNSON, for supporting Kalamazoo College student artists!
5-8 p.m. – K Community Art Studio, Room 312 (third floor), Park Trades Center, 326 W. Kalamazoo Ave.

More K faculty and student art will be on display from 5-8 p.m. in the Park Trades Center (326 W. Kalamazoo Ave.), including:

  • An exhibit of artwork from the current K Advanced Studio class: Room 312
  • An installation by studio art major Cheyenne Harvey ’15 that explores the individual and social demarcations of “in/out” through use of video and mixed media sculpture: Room 411B
  • An exhibition of K student artwork of all levels organized by the College’s “Arts in the Community Living Learning House”: Room 209L
  • Artwork by Department of Art faculty Tom Rice and Sarah Lindley in the K Faculty Studio: Room 405A.

Honors Day 2014

Congratulations to the following Kalamazoo College students, who received awards during the Honors Day Convocation, October 31, 2014, in Stetson Chapel. The awards include all academic divisions, prestigious scholarships, and special non-departmental awards. The Honors Day Convocation occurs annually, during the Friday community gathering of Family Weekend.

FINE ARTS DIVISION

THE BRIAN GOUGEON PRIZE IN ART, awarded to a sophomore student who, during his or her first year, exhibited outstanding achievement and potential in art.
Chiara Sarter

Petra Stoppel
Anja Xheka
Jie Xu

THE LILLIAN PRINGLE BALDAUF PRIZE IN MUSIC, awarded to an outstanding music student.
Valentin Frank

THE FAN E. SHERWOOD MEMORIAL PRIZE, awarded for outstanding progress and ability on the violin, viola, cello or bass.
Siwook Hwang

THE MARGARET UPTON PRIZE IN MUSIC, awarded each year to a student designated by the Music Department Faculty as having made significant achievement in music.
Gabrielle Holme-Miller

Ian Williams

THE COOPER AWARD, for a junior or senior showing excellence in a piece of creative work in a theatre arts class: film, acting, design, stagecraft, puppetry, speech.
Kathryn Lee

Victoria Sebastian

THE THEATRE ARTS FIRST-YEAR STUDENT AWARD, given to a sophomore for outstanding departmental efforts during the first year.
Emma Franzel

Sarah Levett

FOREIGN LANGUAGES DIVISION

THE LEGRAND COPLEY PRIZE IN FRENCH, awarded to the sophomore who, as a first-year student, demonstrated the greatest achievement in French.
Maribel Blas-Rangel

Ellie Goldman
Gabrielle Holme-Miller

THE HARDY FUCHS AWARD, given for excellence in first-year German.
Yicong Guo

THE MARGO LIGHT AWARD, given for excellence in second-or third-year German.
Emily Walsh

THE ROMANCE LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT PRIZE IN SPANISH, awarded for excellence in the first year in Spanish.
Shanice Buys

Olivia Weaver

THE CLARA H. BUCKLEY PRIZE FOR EXCELLENCE IN LATIN, awarded to an outstanding student of the language of the ancient Romans.
Danielle Gin

Alec Wright

THE PROVOST’S PRIZE IN CLASSICS, awarded to that student who writes the best essay on a classical subject.
Anup Bhullar

Marquis Griffin

HUMANITIES DIVISION

THE O. M. ALLEN PRIZE IN ENGLISH, given for the best essay written by a member of the first-year class.
Sara McKinney

THE JOHN B. WICKSTROM PRIZE IN HISTORY, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in history.
Shanice Buys

Frances Heldt

THE VOYNOVICH COMPETITIVE SCHOLARSHIP, awarded to a first-year, sophomore or junior who writes the most creative essay based on a selected topic in the alternating areas of religion and science.
Ayaka Abe

THE DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY PRIZE, awarded for excellence in any year’s work in philosophy.
Andres ElAmin-Martinez

Jenna Sexton
Sarah Werner

THE L.J. AND EVA (“GIBBIE”) HEMMES MEMORIAL PRIZE IN PHILOSOPHY, awarded to that sophomore who, in the first year, showed the greatest promise for continuing studies in philosophy
Jon Jerow

Caroline Peterson
James Reuter
John Wenger

NATURAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS DIVISION

THE WINIFRED PEAKE JONES PRIZE IN BIOLOGY, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in biology.
Quinton Colwell

Kathleen George
Grace Smith
Eric Thornburg

THE DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in chemistry.
Collin Steen

THE FIRST-YEAR CHEMISTRY AWARD, awarded to a sophomore student who, during the first year, demonstrated great achievement in chemistry.
Quinton Colwell

Emily Powers
Raoul Wadhwa

THE LEMUEL F. SMITH AWARD, given to a student majoring in chemistry pursuing the American Chemical Society approved curriculum and having at the end of the junior year the highest average standing in courses taken in chemistry, physics,and mathematics.
Daniel Karn

THE COMPUTER SCIENCE PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in computer science.
Liam Lundy

Griffin Smalley

THE FIRST-YEAR MATHEMATICS AWARD, given annually to the sophomore student who, during the first year, demonstrated the greatest achievement in mathematics.
Ngoc Truong

THE THOMAS O. WALTON PRIZE IN MATHEMATICS, awarded to a member of the junior class for excellence in the work of the first two years in mathematics.
Sarah Manski

THE COOPER PRIZE IN PHYSICS, given for excellence in the first year’s work in physics.
Nicholas Caywood

Daniel Moore
Katherine Pielemeier
Siyuan Zhang

SOCIAL SCIENCES DIVISION

THE DEPARTMENTAL PRIZE IN ANTHROPOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY, awarded for excellence during the first and/or second year’s work.
Sheila Carter

Daniella Glymin
Audrey Negro
Eli Seitz
Yaneli Soriano

THE WILLIAM G. HOWARD MEMORIAL PRIZE, awarded for excellence in any year’s work in economics or business.
Philip Mulder

Emerson Talanda-Fisher
Scott Wharam

THE C. WALLACE LAWRENCE PRIZE IN ECONOMICS, awarded annually to a pre-business student who has done outstanding work in the Department of Economics and Business during the sophomore year.
Drew Hopper

William Cagney

THE IRENE AND S. KYLE MORRIS PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s courses in the Department of Economics and Business.
Robert Calco

THE WILLIAM G. HOWARD MEMORIAL PRIZE, awarded for excellence in any year’s work in political science.
Melissa Erikson

THE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY FIRST-YEAR STUDENT PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in psychology.
Sarah Bragg

Rachel Lifton
Ashley Schmidt

THE MARSHALL HALLOCK BRENNER PRIZE, given by family and friends in memory of Marshall Hallock Brenner (class of 1955), to be awarded to an outstanding junior for excellence in the study of psychology.
Alexandra Groffsky

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

THE DIVISION OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION PRIZE, awarded to those students who, as first-year students, best combined leadership and scholarship in promoting athletics, physical education, and recreation.
Grace Smith

Andrew Kaylor

THE MAGGIE WARDLE PRIZE, awarded to that sophomore woman whose activities at the College reflect the values that Maggie Wardle demonstrated in her own life. The recipient will show a breadth of involvement in the College through her commitment to athletics and to the social sciences and/or community service.
Rachel Selina

SPECIAL COLLEGE AWARDS

THE GORDON BEAUMONT MEMORIAL AWARD, awarded to the deserving student who displays qualities of selflessness, humanitarian concern, and willingness to help others, as exemplified in the life of Gordon Beaumont.
Kacey Cook

Bronte Payne

THE HENRY AND INEZ BROWN PRIZE, awarded in recognition of outstanding participation in the College community.
David DeSimone

Tibin John

THE VIRGINIA HINKELMAN MEMORIAL AWARD, awarded to a deserving student who displays a deep concern for the well-being of children, as demonstrated through career goals in the field of child welfare.
Mele Makalo

Philharmonia Director Wins Music Award

Associate Professor of Music Andrew KoehlerAssociate Professor of Music Andrew Koehler, who also serves as music director of the Kalamazoo Philharmonia, is the 2014 winner of The American Prize in Orchestral Programming—Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award—in the community division. Andrew was selected from applications reviewed this summer from all across the United States. The American Prize is a series of new, non-profit competitions unique in scope and structure, designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, ensembles and composers in the United States based on submitted recordings. The award honors the work of Vytautas Marijosius, who served for 35 years as director of orchestral activities at the Hartt School of Music of the University of Hartford. Andrew has appeared as a guest with the West Michigan Symphony; the Lyatoshynsky Chamber Orchestra in Kyiv, Ukraine; and the Festival South Chamber Orchestra in Mississippi, among others. Recently, he took part in the 9th Grzegorz Fitelberg International Conductor’s Competition in Katowice, Poland, where he won First Distinction and the Youth Jury Prize. Andrew is a graduate of Yale College, where he completed a B.A. in music and German studies (graduating with honors and distinction in both majors). He holds a certificate in conducting from the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, where he studied for two years as a Fulbright scholar, as well as a Master’s degree from Northwestern University.

Paper’s Tops at Conference

Amy MacMillan among three receiving awardsAmy MacMillan, the L. Lee Stryker Assistant Professor of Business Management, co-authored a paper titled “Improving the Collaborative Online Student Evaluation Process”—a research effort so fine it received the award for Best Conference Refereed Paper from the Marketing Management Association. The award was presented at a lunch during the MMA conference in San Antonio, Texas. Amy wrote, “I am enjoying representing Kalamazoo College at this conference, attended by hundreds of marketing educators, as well as industry experts and journal editors. From teaching ideas to research strategies technology tools, there are many things I’m excited to bring back to campus.” The financial support to attend the conference is part of the endowed professorship that Amy holds. That aspect of endowed professorships–the encouragement of faculty learning and scholarship–is one reason they are so important and a primary focus of The Campaign for Kalamazoo College. Amy (at left) is pictured with two of the paper’s co-authors (both from Western Michigan University). The fourth co-author teaches in China.

Common Devisers

Sonia Camereno-Morales and Cheyenne Harvey
Exploring art in Varanasi, India. Ankita (not pictured) takes a photo of Anuska (foreground) experimenting with content, perspective, and background as she creates photos of her friends Sonia Camereno-Morales ’15 (left) and Cheyenne Harvey ’15.

Senior Cheyenne Harvey is one of eight students in the United States selected as a Joy of Giving Something (JGS) Fellow by the organization Imagining America. As a JGS Fellow, Cheyenne receives a tuition scholarship and joins a national working group of engaged media makers. She will join the other Fellows in October at Imagining America’s national conference in Atlanta. Criteria for the Fellowship included financial need, artistic merit, and community engaged practice. Imagining America is a national network of campus-community collaborators in humanities, arts, and design hosted on the campus of Syracuse University. Joy of Giving Something is a scholarship provided through Imagining America dedicated to the photographic and media arts.

Cheyenne included three of the seven documentaries that she has produced as a K student in her application. Those three are titled Bronson Park Site Intervention; Finding Peace in a Burning World; and Social Landing. An art major at K, Cheyenne has worked in various media. Her primary interests are photography and, more recently, film making. One of her strongest influences (both personal as well as artistic) has been videographer and teacher Dhera Strauss, who works in the College’s information services and art departments.

Cheyenne is very active in the College’s Center for Civic Engagement. As a sophomore and a senior she has worked as a Civic Engagement Scholar for the program Partners in Art. In that position, she works with groups and organizations in Kalamazoo to build relationships through conversation and artistic expression. The groups with which she has worked include Community Advocates for Parents and Students, Ministry with Community, the Bureau of Services for Blind Persons, the Southwest Michigan Heritage Society, and the Boys and Girls Club of Kalamazoo. In her work, the making of art becomes a language shared by people who differ from each other. The impulse to create, common to all, is a way to experience the diversity of all, which is a great source of vitality. This sharing across difference can inspire more making of art–a deepening of a conversation with ourselves and the world.

Cheyenne wrote about this phenomenon in her application essay when she described her study abroad experience in Varanasi, India. “Many local children and teens would ask foreigners to take their picture or a video of them, and then they would run up and want to see the images,” wrote Cheyenne. But they were much more than subjects. “They were directors, devisers, and artists. They were not often content with the images, and many of the kids would plead with us to take the picture again in a new way. I could see that it meant a lot to them to have their own artistic agency in the process.

“Two of the local students would visit me often, and we became good friends through taking photos together. Sharing my phone and camera, we would take turns showing each other the images we carefully devised. One, named Anuska, who was four years old, would stand with her legs spread out holding my phone straight out in front of her to take photographs. Watching Anuska and the other kids further inspired me in the pursuance of photography and film. They showed me the power that media has to unlock the artist in everyone, and I love being a part of this. We differ as devisers of art, but share the impulse to make it.”

Add a camera phone (or paintbrush, or clay, or pen and ink) to that impulse and a native speaker of Hindi can communicate–and become a fellow artist and friend–with a native speaker of English.

Life Changer

Lor VangLor “Sana” Vang ’14 received a Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to pursue advanced language study in China this past summer. She studied at Zhejiang University of Technology in Hang Zhou, China for ten weeks.

She is one of approximately 550 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students who received the scholarship this year. The CLS Program is part of a U.S. Department of State’s effort to expand dramatically the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages, specifically Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bangla, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Indonesian, Japanese, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Turkish, or Urdu. CLS Program participants are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship and apply their critical language skills in their future professional careers.

Before Sana departed for China, we asked her to participate in a Q&A on her K career and her upcoming CLS summer.

Your hometown? I am from St. Paul, Minnesota. I was born in Thailand and raised in the U.S. I am Hmong-American.

Major, Minor? I majored in East Asian studies with minors in Japanese and economics.

Where did you study abroad? I studied in China during my junior year 2012-13, spending six months in Beijing and three months in Harbin.

Did you complete an Integrative Cultural Project (ICRP) during study abroad? Yes. My ICRP focused on traditional music and I learned how to play a Pipa, a four-string plucked lute. I took Pipa lessons with a graduate student at the Conservatory of Music in Beijing. I attended a music workshop and concerts, and also interviewed music students to learn why they decided to learn traditional versus western instruments.

How did your K study abroad experience affect your life? My K study abroad experience affected my life in many ways. China was an eye-opening experience that allowed me to see things in a different perspective. I studied the history of Beijing, improved my Chinese, and learned about music. In Harbin, I saw the influences of Western cultures and studied about Chinese myths and fairy tales. I also took a course in business that led me to understand more about China’s economic developments and how people are affected by the policies that are being implemented. I traveled and saw many historic sites, and got engaged in the community. I have many good friends from study abroad who will be with me throughout my life.

Describe your Senior Individualized Project? My SIP focused on the clashes of American culture and Hmong culture. Hmong are a diaspora group of people, and Hmong-Americans especially find it’s hard to keep the balance between being both Hmong and American. My SIP talked about finding a new identity of bi-culturalism, some of the struggles within our modern society, and understanding how history has become a big part of who Hmong are today.

Have you been involved in K student organizations? I served as the president of the Badminton Club in my sophomore year and was vice-president my senior year. I also was a member of the Asian Pacific-Islander Student Association.

Campus jobs? I worked for political science department and at the New Media Center.

What do you expect to experience and learn during your CLS summer in China? I want to learn more about the food culture and how to make authentic Chinese food. I also am interested in seeing the differences between living in the south of China and the north. I also expect to improve my Chinese language and learn more about the dialects.

What strengths and learning experiences from your nearly four years at K will help you during your CLS summer? I think my study abroad experience during my junior year will definitely help me during the CLS Summer. Studying abroad helped me become more independent, as well as understand more about myself, and the adaptation process that we all experience while moving to a different place. I learned that exploring cities and having conversations with others can also be beneficial in that you can get to know a place, the people, and become part of that ecosystem.

What are some of your longer-term academic and career goals beyond this summer? Beyond this summer I hope to either find a job or continue my studies in graduate school studying international relations and business. Critical Language Scholars are encouraged to study our targeted language and incorporate it into our future career. I hope to become fluent in Chinese and work in U.S.-China related jobs. Some activities that I might be engaged in are international relations related jobs and programs.

What would you like people to know about you and your K experience as you head toward Commencement and into the ranks of K alumni? Kalamazoo College’s slogan—More in Four. More in a Lifetime.—is, I believe, my Kalamazoo experience. I have met many inspiring people, become great friends with other K students, and have had an amazing four years that I will not forget. K is indeed life changing.

 

Dean’s List Spring 2014

Congratulations to the following Kalamazoo College students, who achieved a grade point average of 3.5 or better for a full-time course load of at least three units, without failing or withdrawing from any course, during the Spring 2014 academic term. Kudos to the entire group of some 300 students, and good luck in Fall term, 2014.

Spring 2014

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

Ayaka Abe
Melissa Acosta
Sara Adelman
Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti
Omid Akhavan-Tafti
Dana Allswede
Suma Alzouhayli
Katelyn Anderson
Steven Andrews
Giancarlo Anemone
Jasmine An
Jill Antonishen
Lucas Arbulu
Simone Arora
Jose Avalos Jr.

B

Gordon Backer
Caroline Barnett
Joseph Barth
William Bartz
Abraham Bayha
Nicholas Beam
Blake Beauchamp
Matthew Beck
Andrea Beitel
Kate Belew
William Bell
Erin Bensinger
Andrew Berner
Cleome Bernick-Roehr
Yuvraj Bhagat
Anup Bhullar
Mara Birndorf
Alexis Blakley
Reid Blanchett
Hannah Bogard
Amanda Bolles
Kira Boneff
Madeline Booth
Nathalie Botezatu
Olivia Bouchard
Miss Grace Bowe
Jonathan Bowman
Zoe Bowman
Riley Boyd
McKenna Bramble
Caitlin Braun
Scott Brent
Stavros Bricolas
Erran Briggs II
Lee Broady
Allie Brodsky
Ebony Brown
Erin Brown
Maxine Brown
Elisse Buhmann
Camille Burke
Shanice Buys

C

William Cagney
Xiaotang Cai Jr.
Robert Calco
Kathryn Callaghan
Sonia Camarena
Ellie Cannon
Olivia Cares
Edward Carey
Fiona Carey
Owen Carroll
Sheila Carter
Marissa Cash
Nicholas Caywood
Colin Cepuran
Savanna Chambers
Chido Chigwedere
Christi Cho
Clare Chodoroff
Jae Hyun Choe
Ji Won Choe
Jennifer Cho
Yoensuk Chung
Josefina Cibelli
Annaliese Collier
Quinton Colwell
Kacey Cook
Hannah Cooperrider
Colleen Corrigan
Wilson Cross
Laura Crouch
David Crudder
Brian Cunningham-Rhoads
Katherine Curley
Suzanne Curtiss

D

Paula Dallacqua
Joshua Daniel
Callie Daniels-Howell
Corrin Davis
Megan Davis
Marissa Dawson
Francesca DeAnda
Cecilia DeBoeck
David Demarest
David DeSimone
Dana DeVito
Claire De Witt
Claire Diekman
Calee Dieleman
Cecilia DiFranco
Ryan D’Mello
Querubin Dubois
Trisha Dunham
Alivia DuQuet
Erin DuRoss
Kayla Dziadzio

E

Maya Edery
Charles Edick
Anna Eshuis
Marlene Espinoza
Fiona Evans
Rachel Evans
Kevin Ewing

F

Alan Faber III
Rachel Fadler
Abram Farley
Andrew Feeley
Nathaniel Feuerstein
Alexis Fiebernitz
Claire Fielder
Olivia Finkelstein
Marie Fiori
Raven Fisher
Joshua Foley
Samantha Foran
Caroline Foura
Christopher Francis
Michael Francisco
Valentin Frank
Abigail Fraser
Anthony Frattarelli
Annah Freudenburg
Gabriel Frishman
Rina Fujiwara
Lydia Fyie

G

Bridget Gallagher
Jacob Gallimore
Joana Garcia
Maria Luisa Garnica Marroquin
Brett Garwood
Katherine Gatz
Lauren Gaunt
Ian Geiman
Kathleen George
Mousa Ghannam
Grace Gilmore
Danielle Gin
Sarah Glass
Alexa Glau
De’Angelo Glaze
Daniella Glymin
Carter Goetz
Marlon Gonzalez
Kaitlin Gotcher
Adam Gothard
Emma Gougeon
Anna Gough
David Graham
Colleen Grasher
Madalyn Grau
Jackson Greenstone
Kaitlyn Greiner
William Gribbin
Ethan Grier
Marquise Griffin
Alexandra Groffsky
Guilherme Guedes
Alyse Guenther
Maria Isabel Guevara Duque
Yicong Guo
Rebecca Guralnick
Caleb Gurd
Cory Gyulveszi

H

Kayan Hales
Marie Hallinen
Allison Hammerly
Daniel Handley
Sameen Haque
Hadley Harrison
Sally Harrison
Rachel Hartman
Cheyenne Harvey
Andrew Hassevoort
Bonita Hazel
Stephanie Heard
Alina Hechler
Frances Heldt
Ashley Henne
Mariah Hennen
Jordan Henning
Kyle Hernandez
Jamie Heywood
Cassidy Hillis
Emily Holloway
Gabrielle Holme-Miller
Jenna Holmes
Pornkamol Huang
Audra Hudson
Robert Hudson
Jane Huffman
Madeline Hume
Katherine Hunter
Siwook Hwang

I

Pinar Inanli
Yohana Iyob

J

Jordan Jabara
Dana Jacobson
Nisha Jagannathan
Clare Jensen
Amy Jimenez
Lara Job
Amanda Johnson
Andrea Johnson
Marylou Johnson
Monica Johnson
Katherine Johnston
Tibin John
Dylan Jolliffe
Samantha Jolly
Brittany Jones
Hannah Jones
Stann-Omar Jones

K

Kamalaldin Kamalaldin
Nicholas Keen
Jessica Kehoe
Clover Kelly
Jack Kemper
Allison Kennedy
Spencer Kennedy
Faiz Khaja
Alexandra Kim
Hannah Kim
Na Young Kim
Elizabeth Kinney
Siga Kisielius
Lucille Klein
Lindsey Koenig
Mehmet Kologlu
Emily Kotz
Holly Kramer
Matthew Kuntzman
Lucas Penn Hardy Kushner

L

Rebecca La Croix
Anh Lam
Bryan Lara
Samuel Larioza
Tessa Lathrop
Colin Lauderdale
Rachel Leider
Jacob Lenning
Colin Lennox
Rachel LePage
Arianna Letherer
Madeline LeVasseur
Sarah Levett
Ayoki Levy
Emily Levy
Clara Lewis
Jordan Lewis
Samuel Lichtman-Mikol
Rachel Lifton
Alex Lindsay
Bret Linvill
Gordon Liu
Cooper Logsdon
Trenton Loos
Elise Lovaas
Chenxi Lu
Riley Lundquist
Liam Lundy

M

Lucy MacArthur Jr.
Sydney Madden
Miranda Madias
Paige Maguire
Lucy Mailing
Megan Malish
Laura Manardo
Amanda Mancini
Grace Manger
Scott Manski
Natalie Martell
Alexis Martin-Browne
Elizabeth Martin
Mary Mathyer
Takumi Matsuzawa
Katherine Mattison
Mallory McClure
Quinn McCormick
Adam McDowell
Tyler McFarland
Sara McKinney
Thomas McLravy
Molly Meddock
Thomas Mehall
Natalie Melnick
Lesley Merrill
Emily Mickus
Shannon Milan
Chelsea Miller
Joshua Miller
Suzanne Miller
Mallika Mitra
Christopher Monsour
Jacob Montz
Daniel Moore
Tessa Moore
Asia Liza Morales
Aliera Morasch
Alexandra Morris
Brittany Morton
Cody Mosblech
Hagop Mouradian
Chloe Mpinga
Tendai Mudyiwa
Chelsea Muller

N

Victoria Najacht
Alissa Neff
Audrey Negro
Gisella Newbery
Hang Nguyen
Hoang Nguyen
Ly Nguyen
Thi Phuong Lan Nguyen
Anne Nielsen
John Nocita
Mackenzie Norman
Emily Nummer
Fernando Nunez

O

Kelly Ohlrich
Stephen Oliphant
Rachel Olson
One Ookeditse
Devin Opp
Anya Opshinsky
Nicholas Ortiz
Colleen Orwin
Jessie Owens

P

Dana Page
Kari Paine
Anthony Palleschi
Fayang Pan
Yunpeng Pang
Grace Parikh Walter
Jisung Park
Hunter Parsons
Bronte Payne
Gabriel Pedelty Ovsiew
Miss Elizabeth Penix
Stephany Perez
Lauren Perlaki
David Personke
Adam Peters
Caroline Peterson
Thanh Thanh Phan
Katherine Pielemeier
Dylan Polcyn
Duncan Polot
Ayesha Popper
Maylis Pourtau
Emily Powers
Beau Prey
Laurel Prince
Danielle Purkey

Q

 

R

Katherine Rapin
Katelyn Ray
Mengyang Ren
Lindsey Reppuhn
Maria Rich
Jenna Riehl
Danielle Riffer-Reinert
Megan Rigney
Megan Riley
Katherine Ring
Annika Roberts
Sophie Roberts
William Roberts
Megan Robison
Erika Robles Araya
Jakob Rodseth
Camryn Romph
Elana Rosen
Lyla Rothschild
Stefanie Roudebush
Elinor Rubin-McGregor
Wendy Rubio
Devin Rush

S

Emily Salswedel
Alejandra Sanchez
Kira Sandiford
Andrea Satchwell
Eri Sawai
David Schapiro
Christa Scheck
Katharine Scheck
Jennie Scheerer
Ashley Schmidt
Natalie Schmitt
Sarah Schmitt
Grady Schneider
Aaron Schoenfeldt
Colleen Schuldeis
Aaron Schwark
Eli Seitz
Allison Seiwert
Jenna Sexton
Sanjay Sharma
Hannah Shaughnessy-Mogill
Rami Sherman
Veronica Shiemke
Geon-Ah Shin
Sonam Shrestha
Brandon Siedlaczek
Alexsandra Siems
Petar Simic
Kaylah Simmons
Blake Simon
Madeline Sinkovich
Eren Sipahi
Kathryn Skinner
Miss Claire Slaughter
Caitlyn Smith
Colin Smith
Emily Smith
Grace Smith
Sarah Smith
Cassandra Solis
Joshua Sowers
Austin Sroczynski
Sara Stack
Jordan Stainforth
Vethania Stavropoulos
Ernest Stech
Charlotte Steele
Collin Steen
Petra Stoppel
Lydia Strini
Thomas Stuut
Sarah Sullivan
Kyle Sunden
Muyang Sun
Shang Sun
Mira Swearer

T

Thomas Tabor
Emerson Talanda-Fisher
Brendan Tamm
Kiyoto Tanemura
Aidan Tank
Salwa Tareen
Jennifer Tarnoff
Abigail Taylor
Lilian Taylor
Diana Temple
Kaitlyn Thiry
Cassie Thompson
Laurel Thompson
Spencer Thompson
Eric Thornburg
Karen Timm
Allison Tinsey
Mary Tobin
Benjamin Toledo
Nadia Torres
Alexander Townsend
Madeleine Tracey
Brooke Travis
Dakota Trinka
Brittany Trombino
Minhkhang Truong
Ngoc Truong
Shelby Tuthill
Elizabeth Tyburski

U

Elizabeth Uribe

V

Caleb VanDyke
Christian VanHouten
Mitchell VanKoevering
Erica Vanneste
Kaela Van Til
Umang Varma
Natalie Vazquez
Rolf Verhagen Metman
Madeline Vermeulen
Thomas Verville
Samantha Voss
Austin Voydanoff

W

Raoul Wadhwa
Reid Wagner
Kyra Walenga
Brigid Walkowski
Sidney Wall
Emily Walsh
Emily Walsh
Jessica Walters
William Warpinski
Olivia Weaver
Jared Weeks
Perri Weiderman
Natalie Weingartz
Paris Weisman
Madeline Weisner
Clayton Weissenborn
Kenneth Weiss
Cameron Werner
Joseph Westerfield
Scott Wharam
Caitlyn Whitcomb
Zachary White
Joshua Whitney
Elijah Wickline
Joseph Widmer
Laurel Wiinikka-Buesser
Arshia Will
Kieran Williams
Rachel Williams
Courtney Wise
Emily Witte
Camille Wood
Dayon Woodford
Lisa Woolcock Majlof
Erika Worley
Lindsay Worthington
Kate Wynne
Joseph Wyzgoski

X

Anja Xheka
Jincheng Xu

Y

Michael Yeomans
Samantha Young
Skylar Young

Z

Cheryl Zhang
Matthew Zhiss
Zhipeng Zhou
Agron Ziberi

Dense, Disconcerting Bite

Faded portrait of Diane SeussThat I could have written it shorter had I only more time has been attributed to great writers from Montaigne to Mark Twain. Those multiple attributions may be the best testament to the statement’s truth. It is hard to write “good short.” Unless you’re Writer-in-Residence Diane Seuss ’78, winner of Indiana Review’s 2013 1/2K Prize for her prose poem “Wal-Mart Parking Lot,” which was published in IR’s Summer 2014 issue.

More good news: IR editor Peter Kispert interviewed Di about various prize-related matters, including which actual Wal-Mart inspired her, how she approached making her poem, and the challenges and triumphs of the compressed form. You can read that interview online. In the 1/2K, word count cannot exceed 500 and all genres are open–albeit constrained. Di is spending part of the summer at Hedgebrook on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound. Hedgebrook is a retreat for women writers. “If you receive the residency you get your own little cottage (overlooking Mt. Rainier and the Sound), solitude, and meals out of their organic garden,” wrote Di. “I’m not sure how to receive such a gift, but I’m working on it.”

In other news, The Missouri Review published Di’s poem “Still-Life with Two Dead Peacocks and a Girl (after Rembrandt),” one of a series that arose from Di’s interest in still life painting. “What I discovered about still lives is that they are not still,” Di said, “or their stillness draws out our projections like a poultice lures poison.”