biplane logo                                                               

 

                                                                   

                                                              College of Liberal Arts 

CoLA Color
CoLA Weekly
 
Friday, April 22, 2016 


Well, Tom Hanks and David McCullough were on campus and we had a good time. Talk about an understatement! April 19 was a spectacular day all around as both Tom and David worked with our students, met with faculty and staff, planned a movie on the Wright Brothers, and helped announce that we have currently reached $152M in our Rise.Shine. Campaign, breaking our goal as we continue raising funds and support for Wright State. Tom also dedicated the new Tom Hanks Center for Motion Pictures. Just another day at Wright State.
 
The press and social media impact has been huge. The positive advertisement value for the university from the Tom Hanks visit over the first 48 hours is estimated to be at least $470,000, and there have been at least 680 stories about the Hanks visit that have populated the web, print, TV and radio across the country. Social media information has reached 4 million people with 31,472 views, and 4,170 reactions, comments, and shares. And now that our bold, blue Tom Hanks Center for Motion Pictures building was shown on Late Night With Stephen Colbert last night - with Tom Hanks as a guest - our media impact should increase even more.
 
There were many teams of wonderful people involved in every aspect of this day. I can't acknowledge everyone here, but there are three people that really deserve our accolades and those are Chair and Artistic Director of Theatre, Dance & Motion Pictures Stuart McDowell for his sheer hard work, generosity, great connections, and all around vision, Becky Cole for leading us to such great results on the campaign and for overseeing such a wonderful Advancement team, and Cristie Gryszka for managing all aspects of the day, her fantastic attention to detail, her grace under pressure, and her ability to herd cats. And a special thank you to Sara Woodhull and Linda Caron, who along with me, were the planning group for the Tom Hanks Center for Motion Pictures dedication. We can now go back to our day jobs. Kudos Wright State!
 

 
The 2016 Celebration of Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities went well this year and CoLA was excellently represented. I enjoyed attending our students' presentations and viewing many of the posters. Great Job to Joseph Panfile, History, who was a Plenary Speaker chosen by me to represent CoLA. Joe, who was mentored by Christopher Beck, spoke on Legalism and Communal Obligations in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 and did a fantastic job. Thank you to our CoLA faculty volunteers and session moderators Kirsten Halling, Modern Languages, Laura Luehrmann, Political Science, and December Green, Political Science. Our student presenters were:
  • Samantha Hall, International Studies, mentored by Pramod Kantha - India-Pakistan Relations: Trading with the Enemy
  • Martin Kalfas, International and Comparative Politics (ICP), mentored by Laura Luehrmann - The 2007 Financial Crisis and Chinese Soft Power Promotion in the United States
  • Shelly Young, ICP, mentored by December Green - An Examination of State Policy, Economics, Immigration Integration and Links to Terrorism
  • Roufia Dehmani, French, mentored by Kirsten Halling - Algeria's Black Decade Through the Eyes of Yasmina Khadra
  • Garrett Teets, ICP, mentored by Laura Luehrmann - Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems in a Cross Strait Conflict: Taiwan and the Case for Limited Defense
  • Aleksei Balanov, ICP, mentored by Liam Anderson - Corruption in Sanctioned States: Exploring the Unintended Consequences
  • Julie Tomlin, ICP, mentored by Laura Luehrmann - Nuclear Japan: Observing Japanese Public Opinion, Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Nonproliferation in Asia-Pacific
  • Rahimullah Akrami, ICP, mentored by Liam Anderson - Causes of Ethnic Conflict: Why Regimes Experience Instability in Pluralistic Societies
  • Hannah Collins, ICP, mentored by Laura Luehrmann - Manipulation of Historical Memory within History Textbooks: Japan and South Korea

The College Undergraduate Plenary Speakers -
Joe Panfile far right 

Samantha Hall, International Studies 

Mentor Kirsten Halling and Roufia Dehmani, French 
 
CoLA Poster Presenters   
 
The Center for Liberal Arts Student Success (CLASS) has sure been busy this time of year. Wayne Stark and Alex Taylor offered excellent opportunities for Professional Development Week:
  • Monday - Q&A Session with Distinguished Alumni Panel
  • Tuesday - Your Best Self & the Workplace with Karli Lightner and Reynolds & Reynolds
  • Wednesday - Looks That Land the Job with Bill Perry, Career Consultant from Clothes That Work
  • Thursday - The Ultimate Interview Guide with Andrea Loftis from American Family Insurance
  • Friday - Career Opportunities with Victoria's Secret
CLASS is providing so many opportunities for career preparation and exploration. Great Job Wayne and Alex!
The CoLA Dean's Leadership Board has also been busy providing crucial financial support to fund Leadership and Study Abroad Scholarships for CoLA students.  Some members of the board served on sub-committees to select the recipients for these awards as well as for a few additional important scholarships. Ultimately these committees awarded $28,400 to 16 students! Thank you to all the dedicated people who serve on this important board:  Kathy Arquilla '73, Greg Brush '85, Naomi Ewald-Orme '90, Gary Gall '74, Kathy Hinders '97, Ildiko Marcus '79, Wendy Merkert '00 /'06, Mark Owens '78, Colleen Ryan, and Judy Thompson '99.
 
And a BIG congratulations to this year's awardees:

Leadership Scholarship:
McKenna Koewler, Mass Communication 
Chelsie Spoor, Urban Affairs
Lukas Wenrick, Social Science Education
Dennis Wilson, Communication Studies and Select Studies
 
Study Abroad Scholarship:
Rachel Canter, English and French
Hans Crow, International and Comparative Politics 
Tonya Lewis, English and French 
Alexis Lyman,  Art & Art History  
Joshua Ogg, English 
Elizabeth Sweeney, Social Work 
Carrie Vorbroker, Dance 
Matt Weldon, Communication 
Miriam Wilkins, Anthropology 
Diamond Williams, Social Work 
 
Foundation Board of Trustees Scholarship
Lukas Wenrick, Social Science Education 
Dennis Wilson, Communication Studies and Select Studies 
 
Marcia G. Muller Study Abroad Scholarship
Jennifer Noren, Art 
 
Jennie and David Buckwalter Study Abroad Scholarship
Rachel Slater, Biology and Spanish 
  
Kathleen Hinders Study Abroad Scholarship
Miriam Wilkins, Anthropology
 
The Department of English Language and Literatures has published the 2016 edition of Best Integrated Writing: Journal of Excellence in Integrated Writing at Wright State University. The journal, edited by Mary Coyle, English, seeks to publish excellent student writing from Integrated Writing courses in the Wright Core and in the majors and to promote those examples for use by students and faculty as learning tools. This volume contains thirteen essays, six by CoLA students:
  • A Gray Area, written by  English ILA major Lindsay Smith for Aaron Wolpert's CLS 1600
  • The Grimké Sisters: Radical Defenders of Women's Rights and Abolition, written by History major Megan Bailey for Drew Swanson's HST 4650
  • Confederate Delusions: 'King Cotton' and the Dream of Intervention, written by History major Shane Hapner, for Drew Swanson's HST 4560
  • Conflicting Cultural Identity and the Baz Benin in Edwidge Danticat's Claire of the Sea Light, written by  English major Kellianne Rinearson for Alpana Sharma's ENG 4470
  • The Distribution of Globalized Power, written by dual English/French major Rachel Canter for Hyeseon Jeong's URS 2000
  • The Benefits and Regulations of Electronic Cigarettes, written by  Music major Sarah Kenney for Scott Geisel's ENG 2130
CoLA provides supplemental travel funds for faculty and students to present their research at national and international conferences. This year we have been able to support a number of researchers to present at interesting venues.

Faculty:
- December Green, Political Science, International Studies Association, Atlanta
- Hyeseon Jeong, Geography, American Association of Geographers, San Francisco
- Liam Anderson, Political Science, Southern Political Science Association, San Juan
- Christopher Oldstone-Moore, History, Framing the Face, London
- Judson Murray, Religion, East-West Philosophers Conference, Hawaii
- Arvind Elangovan, History, Association of Asian Studies, Kyoto
- Marlese Durr, Sociology, Eastern Sociological Society, Boston
- Carol Herringer, History, Figure of Christ in Long Nineteenth Century, Cambridge
- Robert Carley, Sociology, International Social Theory Consortium, Ames
- Erik Banks, Philosophy, Mach Centenary Conference, Vienna 
          
Students:
- Abigail Sorensen, MHumanities, National Pop Culture Association
- Tyler Heneghan, Anthropology, Midwest Archaeological Conference
- Diamond Williams, Social Work, International Congress on Qualitative Research
- Nytasia Hicks, Social Work, International Congress on Qualitative Research
- Olivia Cole, Spanish/French, Cincinnati Romance Conference
- Sebastian Williams, English, Midwestern Conference on Literature, Language, and Media
    
This week's Dean's Student Advisory Board featured members are Joseph Panfile and Elizabeth Sweeney.

 		 
Joseph is a senior majoring in History with a minor in Spanish. His love of history began in high school with an AP European History course and has persisted ever since. After graduation in the spring, he plans to go on to graduate school to earn a Master's degree, followed by a Ph.D., with the goal of becoming a history professor or an archivist.   Elizabeth is majoring in Social Work and minoring in psychology as well as Spanish. She enjoys volunteering with youth at Fairview Brethren in Christ. Elizabeth also enjoys traveling as one of her biggest interests is learning about different countries and cultures. She has already traveled to Japan, Colombia, and Spain, and this summer she plans to visit Switzerland. 

Best Wishes for Finals Week!   
 
 KSO signature
 
Kristin Sobolik
Dean