Dean Olson

Dear Faculty, Staff, and Friends of the College,

I’d like to welcome our eighteen new faculty, three new department chairs, and three new staff, as well as our continuing faculty and staff, to an exciting new academic year. You will have an opportunity to meet our new faculty as well as ISU's new Provost, Sheri Noren Everts, at the Fall Address on Monday, September 15 at 3:30 p.m. in the Old Main Room in the Bone Student Center. Please plan to attend.

Renovation of the third and fourth floors of Stevenson Hall is complete, and the departments of Economics, English, Mathematics, and Philosophy have returned to their offices in Stevenson Hall. The College office is currently located in 315 Williams Hall. Please feel free to visit us in our new home. Meanwhile, best wishes for a rewarding semester. 

Math Conference Participants

Eighty mathematicians and physicists from around the world participated in a conference held on the Illinois State University campus July 7-11. The conference focused on bringing leaders in the field of vertex operator algebras together with students, postdoctoral fellows, and young academics in a stimulating and mentoring environment. Vertex Operator Algebras (VOAs) are mathematical structures that are particularly important in the development of string theory. Additional aims of the conference included celebrating the 60th birthday of Professor Geoffrey Mason, noted Professor of Mathematics at the University of California at Santa Cruz, and providing opportunities for mathematicians to discuss recent developments in the field and the direction of future research. Click Read More for more photos.

ISU students Allie Hundley, Ben Hansen, Stephanie Gordon and Scott Preston at the White House

Robert C. Bradley, Professor in the Department of Politics and Government, led the first group of 14 undergraduate students on a week-long Washington, DC civic engagement tour last month. The tour's objectives included exposing students to the options available in D.C. for civic engagement, generating networking opportunities for students, and allowing students to witness the exercise of leadership directly at the federal level. Click Read More for more photos.

Handbook of Relationship Initiation

Susan Sprecher, Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, recently published a 27-chapter edited volume, the Handbook of Relationship Initiation (Psychology Press of Taylor and Francis). The Handbook involves 61 authors from diverse disciplines reviewing the literature on various processes related to the initiation of relationships. These disciplines include, but are not limited to, psychology, communication, sociology, anthropology, and family studies. Specific topics include attraction, mate selection, influence of social networks on relationship initiation, initiation over the Internet, hook-ups among young adults, flirting and opening gambits, and relationship initiation after divorce.  In addition, the dark side of relationship initiation is considered, including unwanted relationship pursuit and barriers to relationship initiation, including social anxiety. 

Stewart Winger

Stewart Winger, Assistant Professor of the Department of History, was featured on C-SPAN on Saturday, August 2. To mark the sesquicentennial anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's “House Divided” speech on June 16, re-enactors portraying Lincoln and his political opponent, Stephen A. Douglas, met in the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois to deliver dramatic readings expressing the views of Lincoln and Douglas. Lincoln and Douglas were portrayed, respectively, by George Buss and Tim Connors.

Rachel Shively

Rachel Louise Shively is a new Assistant Professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. She earned her PhD in Hispanic Linguistics from the University of Minnesota. While at Minnesota, Shively taught courses in Spanish language, Spanish linguistics, and intercultural education. Her interests include linguistic pragmatics, sociolinguistics, intercultural communication, and second language acquisition. Shively holds memberships in various professional organizations, including the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages and the American Association of Applied Linguistics. In her free time, she enjoys reading novels, watching movies, traveling, and spending time with her friends, family, and two cats.

Jim Robinson

Jim Robinson, an ISU student majoring in English with a technical writing minor, has completed a summer-long internship in the CASNews office. He completed the internship, Professional Practice: Internship in English, as part of the requirement of the undergraduate Publishing Studies emphasis in the English department. The internship places students in hands-on experiences to practice skills and apply classroom learning. “Internships provide students opportunities for entry-level professional work experience in which they can apply their formal education and extend their learning in ways that the classroom alone cannot provide,” said Dr. Gerald Savage, director of the English Studies Internship Program. “English majors who have completed internships consistently credit the experience in helping them find good jobs using their English education after they graduate.”

September 15 - Fall Address, Old Main Room, Bone Student Center, 3:30 p.m.