Political Science
Dr. Alan Holiman, professor of political science at William Jewell College, has been selected to participate in the recent Brandeis University Jacob and Libby Goodman Institute for the Study of Zionism and Summer Institute for Israel Studies. Participants gathered on the Brandeis University campus in Waltham, Mass., for initial study, with the remainder of the program conducted in Israel. The seminar is designed to assist faculty in colleges and universities primarily in North America in the design of new courses in Israel Studies that they plan to introduce into the curriculum of their home campuses. Approximately 20 candidates were selected.
 “I am honored that Brandeis University has given me this wonderful opportunity for scholarly and professional growth,” Dr. Holiman said. “Not only was I able to read extensively and to engage in seminars led by prominent U.S. experts and scholars of Israeli affairs, but I also had the chance to spend time in Israel itself meeting with prominent academics, writers, journalists and public policy professionals.
“The goal of the institute is to help U.S. academics acquire the expertise necessary to teach about Israel at an advanced level. I am particularly excited that participants were required to design a course syllabus and submit it to peer-review and criticism at the conclusion of the program. This will not only expand the curriculum of the Department of Political Science, but will enrich the education of our Jewell students.”
The Sciences
 Dr. Blane Baker, associate professor of physics, had an article accepted for publication in Physics Education. The pedagogical contribution is entitled “Using a Household Device to Show Application of Capacitors.” Dr. Baker also received the Northland Regional Chamber of Commerce Excellence in Teaching Award. “Dr. Baker’s commitment to teaching is a model for faculty colleagues,” said Dr. John Westlie, dean of the college and vice president for academic affairs at William Jewell. “He is an active researcher and has an impressive publishing record, including articles that are co-authored with students.”
William Jewell College faculty and students recently attended the Missouri Branch of the American Society for Microbiology (MO-ASM) meeting at the University of Missouri- Columbia. Dr. Scott Falke, assistant professor of biology at William Jewell, gave two platform presentations—one on a faculty-directed research project and one on his approach to bringing original research projects into coursework at the college. Dr. Falke was elected to MO-ASM’s leadership council and agreed to an eight-year commitment, including two years as treasurer, two years as secretary, two years as vice president, then two years as president.
Dr. Paul Klawinski, associate professor of biology, presented two oral presentations at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Missouri Academy of Science held recently at Missouri Western University. The titles were: “Resistance and Resilience in Four Elevationally Distributed Spider Communities after Hurricane Disturbance in the Luquillo Mountains, Puerto Rico” and “Parsimony Analysis of Spider Distributions in the Caribbean Archipelago.” Dr. Klawinski was also co-author (with Larry Rizzo [Missouri Dept. of Conservation] and Chad Scholes [Rockhurst University]) on a poster at the National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration held at the Kansas City Hyatt Regency. The title of that poster was “Kansas City WildLands: An Effective Coalition of Partners in Urban Wildland Restoration.”
Department of Nursing
Nursing Faculty Honors and Awards:
Nancy Crigger was selected a member of Marquis’ Who’s Who in America (2006).
Crigger was also honored with an appointment as Adjunct Professor in the Department of Bioethics, Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences.
Kim Cornwell was one of the recipients of the 2007 Outstanding Community Service Award given by the Kansas City-based Research Foundation. The award includes a $1,000 honorarium.
Leesa McBroom was one of the recipients of the 2007 Teaching Excellence Award given by the Kansas City-based Research Foundation. The award includes a $1,000 honorarium.
Pam Arnold and Nichole Spencer have been selected to attend the Graduate Nursing Education Consortium Faculty Development Institute on Geriatric Nursing in Portland Ore. They were also awarded stipends of $825 each to defray travel and registration costs.
Julie Bearce was selected to enter the Doctorate of Nursing Practice: Forensic Nursing track at the University of Tennessee-Memphis, and will begin her studies in July 2007.
Nursing Faculty Publications:
Weiss, J.; Holcomb, L., & Crigger, N. (2006). Lessons learned from Hurricane Mitch: A holistic perspective, Journal of Holistic Nursing, 20:6.
Crigger, N., Bennison, L. (2007). Both sides of the pharmaceutical promotion: unethical marketing or an honest business venture? Advance for Nurse Practitioners, 15: (1); 61-65, 74.
Weiss, J., Holcomb, L, & Crigger, N. (2007). A grounded theory study of disease response in Hondurans. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 20 (6); 282-287.
Crigger, N.J., Holcomb, L. (2007). Practical strategies for providing culturally sensitive ethical care in developing nations, Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 18 (1); 70-76.
Bonnel, W & Meek, V. (2007). Qualitative Assignments to Enhance Online Learning. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning. Feb, 7, 2007.
Crigger, N.J., Holcomb, L. (2007). Practical strategies for providing culturally sensitive ethical care in developing nations, Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 18 (1); 70-76.
Nursing Faculty Presentations:
Nancy Crigger was interviewed for a documentary produced as part of the US Attorneys General Consumer and Prescriber Education Grant Program, planned for release in the spring of 2007. Her appearance in the documentary was a result of her work on pharmaceutical promotions and conflicts of interest in an article recently published in the Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.
Crigger was also an invited speaker at the National Organization for Nurse Practitioner Faculty Annual Meeting, April 11-14, 2007, Denver, CO, speaking on “Rational prescribing and the search for the common good.” She also presented her faculty paper entitled “Global ethics: Can we give more than crumbs from the table?” at the William Jewell College Faculty Paper Series.
Nichole Spencer presented her poster on “Geriatric Nursing and Applied Learning Experiences” at the Conference on Applied Learning in Higher Education at Missouri Western State University.
Leesa McBroom presented her poster, “What Nursing Should Know about Divorced Coparenting Families,” at the Midwest Nursing Research Society conference in Omaha, Neb.
Arnold, P. “Generational Diversity in the College Classroom,” accepted for presentation at the Rockhurst University/Research College of Nursing Scholarship Day, April 27, 2007.
Nursing Faculty-Student Publications:
Prohaska, A., Marson, M., Burris, S., Crigger, N., (2006). Health perceptions, beliefs, and practices in a rural Honduran population, Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship, Online Peer Reviewed Journal, Fall, 2006.
Castaneda, L., Habert, B., Witt, P., Younker, D., Crigger, N. (2007). In search of a language of caring for nursing, Journal of Christian Nursing, 24(2); 88-93.
Nursing Faculty-Student Presentations:
Marson, M., Pontious, A, Richardson, C., Burris, S., Crigger, N. Rural Hondurans perceptions about health and illness, Accepted for presentation at the Advanced Practice Nurses of the Ozarks Annual Regional Fall Conference; poster presentation, Branson, Mo., September, 2006.
Batliner, A., Burr, S., Palmer, H., Carroll, K., Heskett, S., Mitchell, G., Kessler, L., Crigger, N. (2007). A comparison of the nutritional status in school age children from Honduran and United States. Presented at the Sigma Theta Tau International Research Night, William Jewell College, March, 2007.
Brandolino, A., Knight, S., Quinn, J., Tinius, C., Laney, L., Stroup, B., Essary, J., Cornwell, K. (2007). Development of an instrument to measure patient satisfaction of nursing care based on the five love languages theory, William Jewell College Duke Colloquium, April, 2007.
Brandolino, A., Knight, S., Quinn, J., Tinius, C., Laney, L., Stroup, B., Essary, J., Cornwell, K. (2007). Love Language: Patient Perception in Caring. Development of an instrument to measure patient satisfaction of nursing care based on the five love languages theory, Sigma Theta Tau International Research Night, William Jewell College, April 2007.
Batliner, S., Burr, S., Palmer, H., Carroll, K., Heskett, S., Mitchell, L., Kessler, L., Crigger, N. (2007). A comparison of the nutritional status in school age children from Honduran and United States. Accepted for Scholarship Day at Rockhurst University/Research School of Nursing, Kansas City, Mo., April, 2007
Oxbridge Honors Program
Dr. Ken Alpern, senior tutor in the Oxbridge Honors Program, served in an “Author Meets the Critics” session as a reviewer of From Morality to Mental Health: Virtue and Vice in a Therapeutic Culture (Oxford University Press, 2006), by Michael W. Martin, at the Sixteenth Annual National Meeting of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, held recently in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Department of Religion and Philosophy
Dr. Elizabeth Sperry, associate professor of philosophy, had a book review of G. Elijah Dann’s After Rorty: The Possibilities for Ethics and Religious Belief published in Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. The URL for the review is http://ndpr.nd.edu/review.cfm?id=9263.
Dr. John Hacker-Wright, visiting assistant professor of philosophy, had an article, “Moral Status in Virtue Ethics,” accepted for publication in Philosophy: The Journal of the Royal Institute of Philosophy. The article challenges the way philosophers think about the problem of moral status, focusing on which things deserve our moral concern, an issue at the heart of debates about abortion, treatment of animals and concern about the environment.
Dr. J. Bradley Chance, professor of religion and chair, offered a paper at the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, held in Washington, D.C. His paper was entitled “Faith and the Discipline in the Classroom: A Crucial Dialectical Relationship.” In the paper Chance reviewed how at William Jewell College faith intersects with the discipline of the critical study of the Bible. The paper surveys how he employs the textbook (co-authored with Jewell colleague Dr. Milton Horne), Reading the Bible: An Introduction to the Biblical Story, to encourage students to become critical readers of the Bible while, at the same time, intersecting critical scholarship with their own faith. A revised version of the paper was published in the SBL Forum, March 2007, and is available on-line at http://www.sbl-site.org/Article.aspx?ArticleId=642.
Dr. Chance also delivered a paper at the Central States regional meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, held in St. Louis. The paper was entitled “The Beginning or the End? The End of Acts and the Beginning of Isaiah.” In this paper Dr. Chance explored the implications stemming from Luke’s choice to conclude the Book of Acts with a quotation from Isaiah that is found near the beginning of the Book of Isaiah.
Dr. Milton Horne, professor of religion, presented a paper recently entitled “Augustine, Allegory and the Song of Songs” at the Central States Regional Society of Biblical Literature. He also gave a lecture in a graduate class on Handel’s Oratorios at Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music. The lecture was entitled “The Politics of Protestantism in the Librettos of Handel’s Israel Oratorios.”
Mind/Faith Lectures
Dr. Michael Cook, Boatwright Professor of Economics, and Dr. Elaine Reynolds, professor of history, presented spring lectures in William Jewell’s “Journeys of Mind and Faith” series. The lectures focus on the tension often inherent in addressing questions of faith and of intellect. “As a Christian liberal arts college, William Jewell has at its disposal the uncommonly conjoined resources of intellectual inquiry and faith,” says series coordinator Dr. Milton Horne. “This series takes advantage of those resources to present to the community the stories of individuals whose Christian and intellectual journeys, while not yet complete, have been rewarding and worthwhile.”
Department of Languages
Dr. Kathleen Tacelosky, associate professor of Spanish, presented the following papers at conferences this semester: “Service-learning and Reflective Dialogue in the Foreign Language Course,” at Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Kansas City, Mo.; “Student Reflection Papers and Instructor Reflection,” at Applied Learning Conference, Missouri Western University, St. Joseph, Mo.
Dr. Ruth Kauffmann, professor of Spanish, presented La poesía de Nicaragua: Literatura y cultura en un país de poetas (Poetry of Nicaragua: Literature and Culture in a Country of Poets) recently at the Central States Conference (CSC) of the Association for the Teaching of Foreign Languages in Kansas City. Her presentation has been chosen as an “All-Star” session for the conference based on attendee evaluations, and she has been invited to repeat the presentation at the CSC 2008 conference in Dearborn, Mich.
Curry Library
Two of Curry Library’s professional librarians have been accepted into highly competitive intensive training programs for this summer. Both programs have limited membership and required competitive applications.
Kenette Harder, reference and government documents librarian, has been accepted by the Western Archives Institute, sponsored by the Society of California Archivists, the California State Archives and San Diego State University Library. The Institute will be held at San Diego State University in San Diego, Calif. This intensive, two-week program provides integrated instruction in basic archival practices, and includes site visits to records repositories and a diverse curriculum covering all aspects of archival practice and theory. Kenette will learn skills needed to upgrade the care and organization of the Jewelliana collection and other special collections of rare and fragile materials in the Curry Library.
Elise Fisher, circulation and inter-library loan librarian, will participate in Illinois Immersion ’07, the Regional Information Literacy Institute sponsored by the Association of College and Research Libraries at Illinois State University in Normal, Ill. The institute focuses on developing, integrating and managing institutional and programmatic information literacy programs, and it will provide Elise with experience and training to help her in building effective information literacy offerings for William Jewell College.
Suzanne Barrett, media librarian, has been appointed associate editor of College & University Media Review, the professional journal of the Consortium of College & University Media Centers, which publishes articles focusing on media and technology, related research, instructional development and management.
Curry Library staff members Dianne Sires, evening circulation supervisor, and Dee Day, circulation assistant, completed Kansas City Metropolitan Library & Information Network certification for library paraprofessionals in December and March, respectively. Certification courses included Customer Service, Basic Reference, Computer Troubleshooting, Emerging Library Trends, Internet & Electronic Resources, Search Engines and Searching Skills. This process has taken place over the course of a year to 18 months. |
