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Over 20 Chicago area business and community leaders have agreed to serve on the College’s new Chicago Advisory Board. The Board will provide a mechanism through which the College can expand and strengthen its relationships in the Chicago area to benefit faculty and students. “There are a great number of our alums in the Chicago area who are leaders in their respective fields and in the Chicago community,” said Dean Olson. “This Board will help the College utilize their expertise and create mutually beneficial partnerships. I am very excited about the potential benefits of this Board.”
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| Thomas W. Simon | Professor of Philosophy Thomas W. Simon has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright award for 2005-2006. As part of the award, he is teaching law at the University of Malaya and conducting research on ethnicity, terrorism and other subjects. Of particular research interest to Simon is the vibrant and largely harmonious society established by three religious/ethnic groups: Muslim Malays, Buddhist Chinese, and Hindu Indians. The Malaysian version of ethnic cooperation will prove a welcome contrast to Simon’s previous research and books on ethnic conflict and genocide. As a licensed attorney in the U.S., he will examine Malaysian legal practice with its parallel civil and Islamic courts. He spent the summer of 2004 studying Islam at a faculty institute sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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From left, Dr. Herman Brockman
with his former student William DeGraff | William DeGraff (BS '78, MS '81) returned to campus on December 1 to deliver the 2005 Brockman Alumni Seminar in Genetics. The seminar series—established in 1998 by a group of former students tohonor Dr. Herman Brockman upon his retirement—showcases Illinois State alumni who have gone on to become leaders in the field of genetics research. "I continue to be impressed by the fine work being done by Dr. Brockman's former students who come back for the seminar series and who also are well-represented in alumni awards receptions across campus every year," said Dean Olson. "It is clear that Dr. Brockman's students not only learned a great deal from him, but that they also developed a strong relationship with him that compelled them to honor him with the lecture series and loyally return to campus for the series every year."
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| Faculty Lunch | Last week, the College held the third of its newly-initiated monthly “Faculty-Leadership Forums.” The forums provide a venue where faculty across the College can meet in an informal setting to discuss issues of common concern with members of the College leadership team. Each month, the College invites a select number of faculty members to gather over lunch in wide-ranging discussions about topics important to the College and the Departments. Discussions thus far have included, for example, potential changes in summer school, strategies for improving faculty recruitment and retention, and the College budget. “I hope the Faculty-Leadership Forums provide a means for faculty members to get to know College staff and to discuss issues of importance,” said Dean Olson. “I have really enjoyed getting to know faculty members in small groups, and I believe our discussions have been mutually informative.”
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The Illinois State University Planetarium is offering a free showing of The Stellar Tapestry at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 6, and is also pleased to present its holiday show, ‘Tis the Season, which will run the first three weekends of December. The Stellar Tapestry features imaginary shapes of brave heroes and terrifying monsters handed down from ancient times that form the basis of our modern constellations. On-campus telescope viewing of the Moon and planets precedes the program, weather permitting. ‘Tis the Season recounts the historical, religious, and cultural rituals practiced during the winter solstice—not only Christian and Jewish, but also Egyptian, Roman, Pagan, Celtic, Nordic, and Hopi. The program also takes a look at some of our more light-hearted seasonal traditions: from gift giving and kissing under the mistletoe to songs about lords a-leaping and ladies dancing.
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| Dr. Lee with her scholarship winner | In each issue of CASNews, we provide a profile of a current or retired faculty member. For this week's issue, we are reprinting an article originally published in this year's issue of Renaissance Retirees—an annual newsletter produced by the College that showcases retired faculty. The editorial board of Renaissance Retirees asked Dr. Dorothy E. Lee (former chair of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, and former interim chair of the Departments of Foreign Languages and History) to submit an article about her activities post-retirement. Since retiring, Dr. Lee has published several novels and has endowed a scholarship for non-traditional graduate students at Illinois State University. Below is Dr. Lee's peer-requested submission.
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