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| Gina Hunter (de Bessa) |
Gina Hunter (de Bessa), Associate Professor of Anthropology, is co-author of the article “Interrogating the University: One Archival Entry at a Time” in the September/October issue of Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning. The article reports on the Ethnography of the University Initiative (EUI), a multi-campus interdisciplinary program that offers students the opportunity to conduct original ethnographic and archival research. The EUI was established six years ago and fosters student research on universities as institutions while maintaining digital archives of student work. Over 60 EUI-affiliated courses have been taught on four different campuses, including ISU.
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Lucinda McCray Beier, Professor of History, has published Health Culture in the Heartland, 1880-1980: An Oral History (University of Illinois Press). This history of health, illness, and medical care in McLean County offers a richly detailed account of health care from the perspectives of county residents, nurses, doctors, and public health professionals over the course of a century. The book resulted from a mid-1990s community project that involved a group of local volunteers and a temporary display at the McLean County Historical Society's Museum. Drawing on a wealth of oral history interviews, hospital records, and other primary documents, Beier provides insight into home management of ill-health, birth, and death; nurses’ training and practices; the experiences of African American healers and patients; public health provision; and other topics. By observing the history of medicine and public health through the eyes of practitioners and laypeople over an extended period in a Midwestern county, this volume offers insight into broad American experience as well as an important counterweight to metropolitan-oriented, physician-centered studies.
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Department of History Office
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Homecoming 2008 festivities kicked off on Friday with a campus-wide decorating contest. The week-long celebration includes a wide range of events, with the annual Parade Step-Off to occur at the corner of College and University Streets at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. Tailgates prior to the game will include a family-friendly event called Family Fun Fest, sponsored by the ISU Outdoor Program. In addition to traditional tailgate activities such as lawn games, face painting, food and hot beverages, it will also include a campfire, a visit from Reggie Redbird, and kid-friendly outdoor skills taught every half hour by Outdoor Adventure Program volunteers and staff. The admission-free event is designed to welcome alumni and community families to campus and will take place at the Outdoor Adventure Rental Center parking lot at 220 N. Main Street, across the street from Hancock Stadium. It will begin about 10:30 a.m., right after the Homecoming Parade, and will conclude just before the 2 p.m. football kickoff.
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Larry Diamond and Sandy Roberts
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Professor Larry Diamond, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, delivered “The Spirit of Democracy: The Global Boom, Recession and Renewal” at Illinois State University’s Hibbert R. Roberts Lecture in Public Policy on October 3. Introducing the speaker, Dean Gary Olson praised Diamond as “one of the leading scholars of democratization theory” and “an author whose works have helped not only the academics understanding the complex political landscapes but also the policy-makers in formulating policies.” In his presentation, Diamond noted that the proportion of democracies in the world has essentially stagnated since 1999. Meanwhile, the number of democratic breakdowns has increased and many have occurred in some very strategic states, including Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan, the Philippines, Nigeria, Russia, and Venezuela. “The main cause was bad governance,” Diamond said, “manifested by weak rule of law, corruption and abuse of power. The central challenge is to generate the political will of these countries’ rulers to improve governance, control corruption, and generate real development.”
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Daniel Breyer
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Daniel Breyer joins the ISU faculty as an assistant professor of philosophy. His research focuses on epistemology and moral philosophy, including free will and moral responsibility. He is also interested in Buddhist philosophy and the philosophy of religion. Daniel earned his PhD from Fordham University in New York City and a master's degree in liberal arts from St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. While completing his dissertation, Daniel taught a wide variety of courses at Fordham, Rutgers and Seton Hall. In his last year at Fordham, he received a distinguished teaching fellowship. This past December, Daniel and his wife, Lauren, had their first child, Aidan.
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Ruth Fennick and Lois Guyon
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Retired ISU faculty members Ruth Fennick (English) and Lois Guyon (Criminal Justice Sciences) have received the Governor’s Home Town Award for their work in saving a park near Streator. This award is given in recognition of volunteer efforts to improve the quality of life in the communities of Illinois.
In 2006, the city of Streator voted to sell a 37.2 acre natural area outside the city. Local equestrians mounted a petition drive asking that the park not be sold and close to 2,000 signatures were submitted. Dr. Fennick and Dr. Guyon were among those circulating the petition and ultimately helped form The Spring Lake Project, a not-for-profit organization with the goal of restoration of the park. They, with 200 volunteers, built a parking lot and a bridge, cleared trails, and cleaned the park. They also established a host program where volunteers sit at the park for two hours a week to greet visitors, give directions, answer questions, and to see that city ordinances are observed. Click Read More for more photos.
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