For the first time (again)
8/29/2007
One of my faculty colleagues remarked recently that she liked my blog and was glad to see I was able to take the summer off from writing it. I was thus faced with a dire moral dilemma: Do I tell her I'm just delinquent and had planned to write it throughout the summer, or do I let her think this was all planned? Painfully I fessed up and also whined a bit about how busy I've been, as we've worked to prepare all summer for the largest freshman class in Dominican's history, having to keep hiring more faculty to teach new classes we kept opening up.
But now we're there. We're ready. Bring on the students!
Our new building, Parmer Hall, is ready to be dedicated (tomorrow) and classes start on Wednesday of next week. If I could just figure out how these last few pieces of the building fit together…
Oh wait, where do these go? What is the sound of one pipe bursting?
Just kidding and that wasn't me by the way. Really the building is done and it's wonderful and the Cardinal is coming to bless it and everything. There will be music and dancing even.
Where else can an organic chemistry lab also function as a skybox for the soccer games?
I just met for lunch with a bunch of our newest faculty. What amazing people! Here's the rundown:
Noelle Allen-Wright, Art
MFA from the School of the Art Institute with an emphasis on sculpture and photography and a BA in studio art Smith College. Noelle has had many exhibitions of her work, including the prestigious New Artists/New Work Series at the Museum of Contemporary Art this summer. She'll be teaching 3D Design, Beginning Color Photography, and Sculpture.
Alisa Beyer, Psychology
PhD and MA from the University of Kansas in cognitive/developmental psychology; BA in psychology from the University of Arizona. Alisa writes on parent-child interactions and influences on children's cognitive processes, the social construction of memory, and implications of memory research for children's testimony. She's teaching Adolescent Psychology, Behavioral Research and Statistics, and Adult Development.
Robert Calin-Jageman, Psychology
PhD and MA, Wayne State University; post-doctoral researcher at Georgia State University, in behavioral and cognitive neuroscience; BA in philosophy and cognitive science from Albion College. Bob studies marine invertebrates to explore the regulation of learning and memory. He'll teach Learning and Cognition, Brain and Behavior, General Psychology, and Behavioral Research and Statistics.
Dianne Costanzo, LAS Seminars/English
PhD from Loyola university in English, Masters of Pastoral Studies Loyola University, MA in English from the University of Chicago, BA English St. Xavier College, 4th Degree Black Belt, Aikido Association of America in association with Hombu Dojo, Japan. Dianne writes on spirituality, literature and women's self defense. She'll be teaching Junior Seminars on Spiritual Landscapes and Grace, Place and Interior Space, and Senior Seminars on Right Relationship and Myths that Shape our Lives, as well as a composition course.
Krista Hansen, Theatre Arts
MFA from the University of Arizona in Theatre Arts, BA from Indiana University, Music/Theatre. She's been the Artistic Director our Performing Arts Center since 2003 and has directed many DU productions including last year Othello and Fiddler on the Roof as well as other productions at other theaters across the country. She's also acted locally at Victory Gardens Theatre and 2nd City Skybox and will be teaching Theatre Practicum, Fundamentals of Acting, Musical Theatre, Voice and Movement, and Auditions.
Jane Hseu, English
PhD and MA from the University of California/Irvine English, BA in English and Education from the University of California/Los Angeles. Jane writes on Asian American and Latino/a writers' and artists' approaches to standard and nonstandard Englishes in relation to race, ethnicity, language and nation. She'll be teaching various levels of composition courses.
Carolina LaTorre, Spanish
PhD & MA in Latin American Literature/Studies Purdue University, BA in Psychology from the University of Southern Indiana. Carolina does research on Latin American history and cultural studies, Latin American and Latina women travel literature, and feminist theory. She'll be teaching Intermediate Spanish, Hispanic American Literature, Culture and Language: Spain and Latin America, Communication in Spanish, and Peninsular Literature.
Donald Marxen, Mathematics
PhD University of Kentucky. Donald spent the last 29 years at Loras College, became a tenured full professor in 1985, and decided to relocate to the Chicago area. He's taught a range of courses from developmental mathematics to real analysis and abstract algebra, studied theories of learning and worked for improving the pre-service training of teachers. This year he'll teach Intermediate Algebra, Introduction to Finite Math, and Calculus.
Julia Nephew, Modern Foreign Language
PhD University of Wisconsin-Madison, MA University of Michigan, and BA Gustavus Adolphus College, all in French language and literature. Julia writes on medieval woman writers and on portrayals of women's education in the 15th and 16th centuries. She's teaching Elementary and Intermediate French, French Culture and Civilization, Communicating in French, and Introduction to French Literature.
David Perry, History
PhD and MA University of Minnesota, BA in history from Wesleyan University. David writes on medieval European history, Venice and the aftermath of the 4th Crusade, as well as cross-cultural interactions, holy war in Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions, and urban history. He's teaching History of Western Civilization Before, and After 1600, Work and Family in Medieval and Renaissance Europe, The Crusading Era, and Travel and Migration.
Jill White, Nutrition
MS in human nutrition and nutritional biology, University of Chicago, and PhD candidate at Northern Illinois University. She has a BA in foods and nutrition from Dominican. She's written on the need for diverse community nutrition educators, analyzed the situation of people of color in the field of dietetics, and on the role of critical race theory in professional education research. She's teaching Nutrition, Multicultural Food Patterns, and Community Nutrition.
Gina Zainelli, Biology
PhD in molecular biology from the Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine, BS biology, also from Loyola. Gina writes on molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, specifically Alzheimer's and Huntington's diseases. She'll be teaching General Biology, Biotechnology and Society, Human Anatomy and Physiology, and Neurobiology.
They are, truly, an outstanding group of new colleagues and we're fortunate to have them all in our community now. Most have significant experience teaching undergraduates. They're filled with good ideas and good will and can't wait to meet our students when classes begin next week. Tomorrow is a daylong faculty workshop where they'll meet many more of their new colleagues.
When we met today I told them that our students, at the end of every course, fill out an evaluation form for that course. It has lots of items, all important. But the ones I care about the most, I said, ask the students to say to what extent these things happened:
And so it begins. For the first time (again), a school year is getting ready to fly. Our biggest entering class, new facilities and new faculty. I love this place and this work!
One of my faculty colleagues remarked recently that she liked my blog and was glad to see I was able to take the summer off from writing it. I was thus faced with a dire moral dilemma: Do I tell her I'm just delinquent and had planned to write it throughout the summer, or do I let her think this was all planned? Painfully I fessed up and also whined a bit about how busy I've been, as we've worked to prepare all summer for the largest freshman class in Dominican's history, having to keep hiring more faculty to teach new classes we kept opening up.
But now we're there. We're ready. Bring on the students!
Our new building, Parmer Hall, is ready to be dedicated (tomorrow) and classes start on Wednesday of next week. If I could just figure out how these last few pieces of the building fit together…
Oh wait, where do these go? What is the sound of one pipe bursting?
Just kidding and that wasn't me by the way. Really the building is done and it's wonderful and the Cardinal is coming to bless it and everything. There will be music and dancing even.
Where else can an organic chemistry lab also function as a skybox for the soccer games?
I just met for lunch with a bunch of our newest faculty. What amazing people! Here's the rundown:
Noelle Allen-Wright, Art
MFA from the School of the Art Institute with an emphasis on sculpture and photography and a BA in studio art Smith College. Noelle has had many exhibitions of her work, including the prestigious New Artists/New Work Series at the Museum of Contemporary Art this summer. She'll be teaching 3D Design, Beginning Color Photography, and Sculpture.
Alisa Beyer, Psychology
PhD and MA from the University of Kansas in cognitive/developmental psychology; BA in psychology from the University of Arizona. Alisa writes on parent-child interactions and influences on children's cognitive processes, the social construction of memory, and implications of memory research for children's testimony. She's teaching Adolescent Psychology, Behavioral Research and Statistics, and Adult Development.
Robert Calin-Jageman, Psychology
PhD and MA, Wayne State University; post-doctoral researcher at Georgia State University, in behavioral and cognitive neuroscience; BA in philosophy and cognitive science from Albion College. Bob studies marine invertebrates to explore the regulation of learning and memory. He'll teach Learning and Cognition, Brain and Behavior, General Psychology, and Behavioral Research and Statistics.
Dianne Costanzo, LAS Seminars/English
PhD from Loyola university in English, Masters of Pastoral Studies Loyola University, MA in English from the University of Chicago, BA English St. Xavier College, 4th Degree Black Belt, Aikido Association of America in association with Hombu Dojo, Japan. Dianne writes on spirituality, literature and women's self defense. She'll be teaching Junior Seminars on Spiritual Landscapes and Grace, Place and Interior Space, and Senior Seminars on Right Relationship and Myths that Shape our Lives, as well as a composition course.
Krista Hansen, Theatre Arts
MFA from the University of Arizona in Theatre Arts, BA from Indiana University, Music/Theatre. She's been the Artistic Director our Performing Arts Center since 2003 and has directed many DU productions including last year Othello and Fiddler on the Roof as well as other productions at other theaters across the country. She's also acted locally at Victory Gardens Theatre and 2nd City Skybox and will be teaching Theatre Practicum, Fundamentals of Acting, Musical Theatre, Voice and Movement, and Auditions.
Jane Hseu, English
PhD and MA from the University of California/Irvine English, BA in English and Education from the University of California/Los Angeles. Jane writes on Asian American and Latino/a writers' and artists' approaches to standard and nonstandard Englishes in relation to race, ethnicity, language and nation. She'll be teaching various levels of composition courses.
Carolina LaTorre, Spanish
PhD & MA in Latin American Literature/Studies Purdue University, BA in Psychology from the University of Southern Indiana. Carolina does research on Latin American history and cultural studies, Latin American and Latina women travel literature, and feminist theory. She'll be teaching Intermediate Spanish, Hispanic American Literature, Culture and Language: Spain and Latin America, Communication in Spanish, and Peninsular Literature.
Donald Marxen, Mathematics
PhD University of Kentucky. Donald spent the last 29 years at Loras College, became a tenured full professor in 1985, and decided to relocate to the Chicago area. He's taught a range of courses from developmental mathematics to real analysis and abstract algebra, studied theories of learning and worked for improving the pre-service training of teachers. This year he'll teach Intermediate Algebra, Introduction to Finite Math, and Calculus.
Julia Nephew, Modern Foreign Language
PhD University of Wisconsin-Madison, MA University of Michigan, and BA Gustavus Adolphus College, all in French language and literature. Julia writes on medieval woman writers and on portrayals of women's education in the 15th and 16th centuries. She's teaching Elementary and Intermediate French, French Culture and Civilization, Communicating in French, and Introduction to French Literature.
David Perry, History
PhD and MA University of Minnesota, BA in history from Wesleyan University. David writes on medieval European history, Venice and the aftermath of the 4th Crusade, as well as cross-cultural interactions, holy war in Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions, and urban history. He's teaching History of Western Civilization Before, and After 1600, Work and Family in Medieval and Renaissance Europe, The Crusading Era, and Travel and Migration.
Jill White, Nutrition
MS in human nutrition and nutritional biology, University of Chicago, and PhD candidate at Northern Illinois University. She has a BA in foods and nutrition from Dominican. She's written on the need for diverse community nutrition educators, analyzed the situation of people of color in the field of dietetics, and on the role of critical race theory in professional education research. She's teaching Nutrition, Multicultural Food Patterns, and Community Nutrition.
Gina Zainelli, Biology
PhD in molecular biology from the Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine, BS biology, also from Loyola. Gina writes on molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, specifically Alzheimer's and Huntington's diseases. She'll be teaching General Biology, Biotechnology and Society, Human Anatomy and Physiology, and Neurobiology.
They are, truly, an outstanding group of new colleagues and we're fortunate to have them all in our community now. Most have significant experience teaching undergraduates. They're filled with good ideas and good will and can't wait to meet our students when classes begin next week. Tomorrow is a daylong faculty workshop where they'll meet many more of their new colleagues.
When we met today I told them that our students, at the end of every course, fill out an evaluation form for that course. It has lots of items, all important. But the ones I care about the most, I said, ask the students to say to what extent these things happened:
- My learning increased in this course.
- My interest in the subject matter has increased.
- This course actively involved me in what I was learning.
- I studied and put effort into this course.
- I was prepared for each class.
- I was challenged by this course.
And so it begins. For the first time (again), a school year is getting ready to fly. Our biggest entering class, new facilities and new faculty. I love this place and this work!
