In Focus
In Focus: 3/6/2014
Gallery Talk
March 6 is the last day to see the exhibit titled “Reconceived Bodies (in Three Parts)” that is on display in the Fine Arts Gallery. Artist Patricia Olynyk is shown here talking about the exhibit, which was curated as part of Southwestern’s 2014 Brown Symposium, “Healing - The Art & Science of Medicine.” (Photo by Anne Bannister)
Top News
SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS TO HELP OTHERS OVER SPRING BREAK
More than 50 Southwestern University students will be spending their spring break helping others – both in Georgetown and around the country.
Students will be going to Arizona, New Mexico and Washington, D.C., the week of March 10-14 as part of the school’s annual Destination: Service program, which is now in its 19th year. Fourteen students will be going to Tucson, Ariz., for a program that will focus on hunger and immigration, 20 students will be going to New Mexico to help the U.S. Forest Service do trail maintenance in the Gila Wilderness, and 11 students will be going to Washington, D.C., for a program that will focus on poverty and homelessness.
For students who cannot devote a full week to a service trip, men’s soccer coach Don Gregory has organized an alternative service project closer to home. Gregory plans to bring children from the Boys & Girls Club of Georgetown to campus for three days to “just let them be kids − whether that’s playing softball for an hour, or throwing a Frisbee on the mall.”
In the two days that the children will not be brought to campus, Gregory and any interested Southwestern students plan to meet them at one of the two Boys & Girls Club locations in Georgetown to play soccer, kickball, football or other sports to provide a healthy, safe and low-stress environment for at-risk students.
Read more here.
INTERNSHIP LEADS SU GRADUATE TO A JOB WITH THE WORLD’S LARGEST MUSIC FESTIVAL
Most Southwestern students, faculty and staff look forward to some rest over spring break.
But for Dempsey Jones, who graduated from Southwestern in 2013 with a degree in communication studies and a minor in theatre arts, spring break is her busiest time of the year.
Jones serves as the Platinum Conference Crews Volunteer Coordinator for SXSW – a job that involves overseeing a large fraction of the more than 4,000 volunteers who commit their time to the annual music, film and interactive festival that draws nearly 150,000 visitors to Austin every spring.
Jones landed the job at SXSW after interning with them for two years while she was attending Southwestern.
Read more here.
BIOLOGY PROFESSOR RECEIVES TEACHING AWARD FROM THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Maria Todd, an associate professor of biology at Southwestern University, has been selected to receive the 2013-2014 Exemplary Teaching Award from the Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church. Each year the Board allows Southwestern to designate one teacher to receive this award, which includes a $500 cash prize.
The award recognizes faculty members at United Methodist-related colleges and universities who have demonstrated exemplary leadership, excellence in teaching, service to students and commitment to education.
Todd has taught at Southwestern since 2001. She teaches a range of classes from the introductory to advanced level, including Genes and Molecules, Methods in Cellular/Molecular Biology, Cancer Biology, Cellular Physiology, and Human Biology Today, which is offered for non-science majors. She is one of the faculty members participating in Southwestern’s Paideia cluster on global health and was one of the first faculty members at Southwestern selected to be a Community-Engaged Learning Fellow.
Read more here.
Events
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT TO PRESENT A MARCH 17 SCREENING AND DISCUSSION OF ORSON WELLES MOVIE
The 2014 Howard-Crawford Lecture Series hosted by the English Department will feature a March 17 screening of the Orson Welles movie “Othello,” followed by a Q&A with a Shakespeare expert from Rhodes College.
The screening will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Olin 110.
The Q&A will feature Scott Newstok, associate professor of English at Rhodes College and coordinator of the school’s Pearce Shakespeare Endowment.
Newstock also will give a talk titled “Crafting Freedom” on Tuesday, March 18, at 4 p.m. in the Connie McNab Ballroom.
NEW LECTURE SERIES DEBUTS MARCH 24
Southwestern is launching a new lecture series designed to encourage members of the campus community and the general public to engage in thought-provoking discussions with each other.
The first “Paideia Connections: Engaging Scholarly Conversations” event will be held on Monday, March 24, at 4 p.m. in the Jones Theater.
The event will open with two Southwestern faculty members each delivering a 20-minute address for a general audience about their recent scholarly work. Following the two brief presentations, instead of the typical Q&A session, the audience will have the opportunity to share connections they discovered while actively listening to the two presentations.
The two faculty members who will be featured in the program are Alison Kafer, associate professor of feminist studies, and Maria Todd, associate professor of biology. Kafer will give a talk titled “Edgework: Disability in Relation” and Todd will give a talk titled “Breaking the Ties That Bind: The Role of Tight Junction Deregulation in Breast Cancer Metastasis.”
Read more here.
SOUTHWESTERN TO PRESENT ‘GYPSY’ MARCH 26-30
Southwestern will present the musical“Gypsy” in the Alma Thomas Theater March 26-30. Performances will be offered at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $10 - $20 and may be purchased online at www.southwestern.tix.com or by calling the Box Office at 512-863-1378.
The production is directed by Rick Roemer and features several guest artists.
Additional information is available here.
MARCH 28 FUNDRAISER TO BENEFIT FOUNTAINWOOD OBSERVATORY
A “Yoga Under the Stars” fundraising event is being held to benefit the observatory on Friday, March 28, from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. Anyone interested in participating in the event should reserve a space by writing anna@mokshayogaonthesquare.com.
Media Coverage
Mother Jones magazine did a story about sociology professor Reggie Byron’s research on pregnancy and firing. Read the story here.
The Williamson County Sun ran a story about the East View High School student who received the 2014 Upward Bound Scholarship from Southwestern.
The Williamson County Sun ran a story about Professor Laura Hobgood-Oster’s new book on the history of human-canine relationships.
The Williamson County Sun ran a preview of inauguration week events.
Art professor Patrick Veerkamp was interviewed for a story in the Williamson County Sun about what constitutes art vs. crafts.
Notables
Three members of the women’s basketball team earned postseason honors from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC). Chelsea Leeder made the All-SCAC First Team, while Annie Bourne made the Second Team and Jordan Owens made the Third Team. Read more here.
Three members of the men’s basketball team also earned postseason honors from the SCAC. Michael Cantu made the All-SCAC Second Team while Chase Kocher and Blake Scott earned Honorable Mention. Read more here.
Eleven students from Southwestern are attending the Texas Academy of Science meeting in Galveston March 7-9 along with Romi Burks, professor of biology. The students are Jonathan Miley, Amber Cochran, Carson Savrick, Amy Miller, Alex Petrucci, Bianca Perez, Bex Petro, Allie Watts, Averi Segrest, Ryan Beeman and Danielle Wallace.
Traci Giuliano, professor of psychology, and three of her students are presenting a paper titled “Three’s a Crowd…Or is it? Examining Public Perceptions of Polyamorous Relationships” at the 2014 meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association in Boston March 13-16. The current and former students who worked with Giuliano on the paper are Kevin Hutzler, Jordan Herselman and Sarah M. Johnson.
Valerie Renegar, associate professor of communication studies, co-authored a piece titled “‘When God Give you AIDS…Make Lemon-AIDS’: Ironic Persona and Perspective by Incongruity in Sarah Silverman’s Jesus is Magic’” that was published in the January/February issue of the Western Journal of Communication.