New Wheels

Economics professor Emily Northrop looks at the new bike that former students and other members of the Southwestern community purchased for her after her bike was damaged in an accident last month. Derrick Dolezal (rear), a 2013 graduate who majored in economics, coordinated the fundraising effort.

Top News

FACULTY MEMBERS ARE FINDING WAYS TO USE TWITTER AS A TEACHING TOOL

After seeing how much time her students were spending on Twitter, art history professor Kim Smith had an idea: Why not find a way to use the popular social media platform as a teaching tool?

“As long as they are online, I thought maybe I could have them looking for art history material,” Smith said.

When she taught her Introduction to Art History class in spring 2014, Smith asked her students to follow five institutions on Twitter that were connected to art history - such as a museum or another school’s art history department. Students also had to post several tweets a week using the hashtag #ARH104. The tweets could be about anything from famous paintings to upcoming exhibits at museums that interested them. Students had to respond to at least one classmate’s tweet per week, and at the end of the semester, they had to tweet several sentences from their final papers. Smith based 10 percent of each student’s overall grade on their use of Twitter for the class.

“I really enjoyed the incorporation of Twitter into our course,” said sophomore Grace Atkins. “It encouraged us to explore topics individually and it fostered a community among the students because we were interacting beyond the physical classroom. Overall, I think it was a great way to allow students to express their thoughts, opinions and musings about the topics discussed in class through a medium with which they are comfortable.” 

Since Smith began experimenting with Twitter as a teaching tool, several other faculty members at Southwestern have also started using it.

Read more here.

SOUTHWESTERN RECEIVES GRANT TO SUPPORT CHEMISTRY LECTURESHIP

Southwestern is one of five institutions in the country that have been selected to receive a 2014 Jean Dreyfus Boissevain Lectureship. The lectureships, which are awarded by The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, provide an $18,500 grant to bring a leading chemistry researcher to campus and to support two undergraduates in summer research.

Maha Zewail-Foote, chair of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, said she plans to ask students this fall to pick the distinguished speaker they would like to bring to campus. The speaker will spend two days on campus visiting with students, attending classes, and giving both a scientific and a public lecture.

The summer research funding will be awarded to outstanding junior or senior chemistry or biochemistry majors who demonstrate exceptional promise as scientists.

Read more here.

Events

FILM FESTIVAL SPONSORED BY THE SPANISH DEPARTMENT STARTS SEPT. 4

The Spanish Department is hosting a film festival this fall that will feature six films from Spain and the Americas. The films will be shown Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. in Room 105 of the F.W. Olin Building beginning Sept. 4.

The film that will be shown Sept. 4 is a 2012 film from Spain and Mexico titled “Aquí y allá” (“Here and There”). The film that will be shown Sept. 11 is a 2011 film from Spain and Mexico titled“También la lluvia” (“Even the Rain”).  

Read more here.

FACULTY PIANO RECITAL TO BE HELD SEPT. 14

Kiyoshi Tamagawa, professor of music, will give a faculty recital on Sunday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. in the Alma Thomas Theater. The program will feature Mozart’s Piano Sonata in C. 

The concert is free and open to the public.

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES PROFESSOR TO SPEAK AT SEPT. 18 EVENT

Josh Long, assistant professor of environmental studies, will be the featured speaker at a Sept. 18 event sponsored by the Interfaith Eco-Network of Georgetown. The event will be held from 7-8:30 p.m. in the main sanctuary of the First United Methodist Church on University Avenue. Long will address the scientific understanding and evidence for climate disruption, global warming and the impact of human activity on climate change. He also will discuss some positive actions that can be taken to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change.

The event is free and open to the public.

Media Coverage

The September issue of Georgetown View magazine had a story about students who participated in the New York Arts Program in spring 2014 and a story about kinesiology professor Scott McLean. Read the art story here. Read the feature on Scott McLean here.

The Chronicle of Higher Education ran an interview with President Burger about his first year in office. Read the story here.

The Williamson County Sun ran a story about new business professor Hazel Nguyen. Read the story here.

Notables

Erika Berroth, associate professor of German, has been selected to participate in a faculty seminar on Meeting Student Needs in College German Programs that will be held at Georgetown University Oct. 10-12. The seminar is sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of German and made possible through funding from Netzwerk Deutsch of the Sonderprogramm zur Förderung von Deutsch in USA und Kanada. Only 28 participants were selected to attend the seminar. Read more here.

Fay Guaracci, professor of psychology, has an article in the September issue of Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior. The article, titled “Endocannabinoid influence on partner preference in female rats,” was co-authored by 2014 graduates Nicoletta Memos, Rebekah Vela and Courtney Tabone.

Helene Meyers, professor of English and McManis University Chair, published an article titled “The Unmarked Chains of Paper Clips” in the spring issue of Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies. The essay discusses the 2004 documentary made about the Children’s Holocaust Memorial in Whitwell, Tenn., and, more broadly, Holocaust education in the 21st century. Read the article here.

Senior psychology major Pauline Pena has been selected to receive a $2,425 UPS Scholarship provided through the ICUT Foundation.

Rick Roemer, professor of theatre, has been hired as a guest artist actor for the regional premiere of “Love and Information,” which will be performed at St. Edward’s University Sept. 25-Oct. 5. The play, which was written by Caryl Churchill, just had a smash hit run at the highly acclaimed New York Theatre Workshop. Read more here.

An article by Fred Sellers, associate professor emeritus of business, has been published in volume 14(2) of the Journal of Accounting and Finance. The article is titled “Dynegy Corporation: Inflating Operating Cash Flow.”