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Dr. Anderson and a
student work with
Iris, a robot. | The Mind Project, a College Program of Excellence, has been awarded a 1.34 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Mind Project is an interdisciplinary research and curriculum project focused on the cognitive and learning sciences. The NIH grant provides funds that will support the creation of elaborate interactive virtual environments designed to teach students about recent breakthroughs in medical science. “The online modules will teach about current (and sometimes revolutionary) research methodologies as well as some of the technical details about the results of the research that are not usually taught at an introductory level,” said Dr. David Anderson, Director of The Mind Project and Associate Professor of Philosophy. “This grant will have a huge impact on the growth of The Mind Project website and learning community. Of course, it will provide the resources to create exciting, virtual environments that we believe will be used by many students at many levels at both the national and the international level.”
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| Dr. Ricardo Cruz | Ricardo Cruz, Associate Professor of English, has been named winner of a 2006 Literary Award by the Illinois Arts Council (IAC) for his short story “Sweet Honey on the Rocks.” Thestory was published in the journal Mandorla, which is edited by Kristin Dykstra, ISU Assistant Professor of English. In addition to receiving accolades for publishing Cruz’s award-winning story, the journal was recognized for publishing another Literary Award winner,“When I first Read Ange Mlinko” by Kent Johnson, a poet from Freeport, IL. Literary Awards are chosen annually by a jury and the Illinois Arts Council awards $1,000 to the writer and publication in which the writer’s work is published. “We are very pleased to be selected for two awards fromthe IAC for many reasons,” said Professor Dykstra. “These Literary Awards are peer-reviewed and very competitive. By recognizing Ricardo Cruz, the Arts Council is bringing attention to an excellent writer here in central Illinois; his accomplishment also reflects well on the creative writing program and Illinois State University.”
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| Roger Laramee |
On June 1, seasoned development professional Roger Laramee was added to the College development staff to help manage the College’s increased focus on fundraising and external advancement efforts.I’m excited about being able to work closely with this constituency,” Laramee said. “Faculty and staff of the College of Arts and Sciences are accomplishing great things, and I am pleased to assist Dean Olson as the development effort continues to evolve.” In the last two years, the College has significantly increased its endowment through cash and planned giving. Cash gifts alone to endowed scholarships totaled close to $1 million over the last two years. Several new endowed scholarships have been created, including the Wilma and Donald R. Haerr Scholarship—the first-ever endowed scholarship in the School of Social Work. In addition, contributions to non-endowed funds have also risen. In the last two years, contributions to the College’s Excellence Fund—a vital source of funding to support faculty, student, and staff distinction and excellence throughout the College—have increased by over 56%.
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Willie Tripp, President of
the Bloomington-Normal
Black History Project and
Lauren Johnson | Recent graduate Lauren Johnson, M.A. in history, received the Oscar Waddell Fellows Award sponsored by the Bloomington-Normal Black History Project. The $500.00 award was presented on May 15 at the McLean County Museum of History. The award’s purpose is to acknowledge research that adds to the knowledge and understanding of African-American history in McLean County. Johnson worked as a student intern during the past academic year organizing the Museum’s extensive collection of papers, artifacts, and other items relating to the history of African Americans in McLean County. The results of her work will assist researchers in locating important museum items.
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Two College entities recently changed names to reflect changing times, identities, and curricular focus. The Department of Foreign Languages is now named the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, and the Women's Studies Program is now the Women and Gender Studies Program. "These changes signal our departments' efforts to remain at the cutting edge of their disciplines," said Dean Olson, "as new knowledge in the field evolves."
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The oldest running women's festival in North America—the National Women’s Music Festival—will be held on the Illinois State University campus on July 6-9, 2006. The event attracts approximately 3,000 attendees annually and features twenty to thirty musical artists—almost all of which are women performers or female-fronted bands—from all musical genres on three to four stages. Cheryl Wheeler, a regular performer at Illinois Wesleyan's Blue Moon Coffeehouse and a local favorite, will appear on the mainstage as well as political songwriter Capital b and folk poet and activist Alix Olson. Some of the other artists scheduled for the mainstage are:Deidre McCalla, Margie Adam, Tret Fure, and Karen Williams.
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