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                                                              College of Liberal Arts 

CoLA Color

CoLA Weekly
 
Friday, November 13, 2015 
 
This past week I was in DC attending the annual Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences (CCAS) conference during which we celebrated our 50th anniversary. Fifty years devoted to sustaining the arts and sciences as a leading influence in higher education and providing professional development for member deans. This was the largest conference yet with nearly 580 deans in attendance representing hundreds of institutions. David J. Skorton, the 13th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and past President of Cornell University and the University of Iowa, was the keynote speaker and delineated the essential need for our nation to embrace the combined model of the liberal arts and sciences as a unifying force in all aspects of policy, decision-making, and communication.
 
CCAS has helped provide professional development opportunities for the college's chairs as well. Every new chair over the past few years has attended a CCAS Chairs Seminar to work with other chairs and deans. I found the seminar very useful when I was a chair and I hear good things about the experience from our chairs as well. Just this past year new chairs December Green, Political Science, and Mary Rucker, Communication, and associate chairs Ksenia Bonch Reeves, Modern Languages, and Barry Milligan, English, attended the seminars either in Milwaukee or San Diego. In San Diego Barry met with Ayse Sahin, the new Chair in the Department of Math in CoSM at Wright State - they were among 44 other department chairs from around the country. Both are pictured below - can you find them?
 

I love to see our Music faculty performing out and about in the community. It reflects so well on Wright State. Recently Randy Paul (clarinet), Steve Aldredge (piano), Ginger Minneman (soprano), and Kevin Nordstrom (viola), performed works by Mozart, Brahms, and Aldredge himself at the Troy-Hayner Cultural Center in Troy, OH. It's hard to keep up with all of the Music concerts, but we always appreciate the numerous opportunities we have to hear fantastic performances. 

 
CoLA is pleased to host Dr. Fatuma Guyo as a Diversity Postdoctoral Scholar this year in African and African American Studies. Fatuma will present her research on
Pastoralists and the Politics of Marginalization in Northern Kenya on Monday, Nov. 16, from 4:00-5:00 p.m. in the Millett Atrium with a reception to follow in the Multicultual Lounge.  In her talk Fatuma will discuss the role of the colonial and post-colonial states in the marginalization of pastoralist Borana community of Northern Kenya.
 

Next week be sure to stop by the Robert and Elaine Stein Galleries.  The exhibition Visions of Conflict runs through Nov. 15 and features the photographic work of Ziyah Gafić, Louie Palu, Jessica Hines, and Larry Price, and is held as part of the CELIA conference ACCORD: Peace, War, and the Arts Bring a brush to the final event of the semester, Sumi Ink Club Group Drawing Event on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 3:30-7:30 p.m.  After November 18 the Galleries will be closed and preparing to move into their new space as part of the Creative Arts Center Modernization and Expansion. Watch for updates!

I recently introduced you to four amazing students working in the Dean's Office this year. I also want to recognize Eli Chizever who is our CoLA Social Media Manager Extraordinaire! Eli is a senior Mass Communication student who began his journey at Wright State pursuing a business degree but changed direction his second year when he found interest in the realm of communication. Eli has a great interest in the public relations field as well as social/digital media. He enjoys being a digital influencer and hopes to make a major impact on the world upon graduation. Thanks for all your hard work Eli! 
 
Down the hallway are three more fantastic student workers serving in the Center for Liberal Arts Student Success (CLASS).  Welcome Liz, Ben, and Gabrielle!

 
Liz Melena completed her Bachelor's degree in Psychology at the University of Dayton and is now pursuing her Master's degree in  Social Work at Wright State. She hopes to work with children and families in a school setting after graduation in April. Liz's favorite experience at WSU was a trip to Switzerland last summer! 
 


  
 
 
Ben Speros is a junior at Wright State majoring in Political Science with a concentration in American History and is working hard to make the Dean's List this semester.  He is a huge Ohio State Buckeyes fan and is also passionately patriotic.  Ben stays busy on campus but makes time to volunteer at his church when he has free time.
 
 
 
 
Gabrielle String is a first year graduate student from Binghamton, New York studying Microbiology and Immunology. When searching for a graduate program to attend, Wright State was one of the first universities she found that offered specific courses that she was interested in. Gabby  looks forward to adopting a Corgi someday - the best kind of dog, in her opinion! 
 
This week's featured New Faculty member is Les Loncharich, Visiting Assistant Professor for the Department of English. He completed his Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Writing, concentrating on Digital Rhetoric and Professional Writing at Michigan State University. He received an M.A. in English and a B.A. in General Studies from Oakland University. This semester, Les is teaching classes on Document Design and Genre Theory for Technical Writers. His research interests are concentrated in Visual Rhetoric and Professional Writing and his current research projects include a study of personal artifacts in public work spaces as markers of professional identity, and also the combined use of digital drawing and digital writing tools in teaching and learning science. Les has been impressed by the structure of our campus and the amount of thought that goes into how different spaces are collaboratively used by faculty and students. Welcome, Les!
 
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Kristin Sobolik
Dean
 
    


CLASS CORNER
Please check out the many upcoming activities planned through our Center for Liberal Arts Student Success (CLASS).