Baylor Arts & Sciences Spring 2018

Baylor

Arts & Sciences

Spring 2018

SPECIAL ISSUE: The Joy and Value of Engaged Learning

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With Tales of >> Student Research >> Study Abroad >> Professional Internships >> Major Scholarships

FROM DEAN NORDT

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elcome to this issue of Baylor Arts & Sciences magazine — a special issue devoted entirely to the important topic of engaged learning.

Engaged learning is a critical part of our students’ academic experience, because it provides them with a continuum of learning from the traditional classroom to prospective career paths. I have spoken of the importance of engaged learning before, but as you will see in this special issue, we in the College of Arts & Sciences are elevating it to the highest level of strategic importance.

Traditional classroom instruction is perfect for some disciplines in a number of situations.

But engaged learning — learning that typically takes place outside the classroom and in addition to traditional instruction — is more and more becoming a crucial component of undergraduate education. For our students, this dynamic aspect of education most often includes activities such as participating in undergraduate research projects, applying for competitive national and international scholarships, studying abroad, completing professional internships or collaborating in civic and community activities.

As a result of these engaged learning experiences, our students gain critical thinking skills, collaborative competencies and leadership qualities — all within a Christian environment — that serve as catalysts to develop them as future leaders. Through engaged learning, they receive exceptional mentorship and explore their world in ways not otherwise possible, then add those experiences to what they have learned through traditional classroom instruction as they navigate their career paths. This process is a

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crucial part of “educating men and women for worldwide leadership and service” as stated in Baylor’s mission statement.

We have done these things well in the past, but we know we need to do them even better and in a more coherent fashion. To ensure that we can provide as many opportunities as possible to as many students as possible, we have created the Office for Engaged Learning in the Dean’s Office of

and expand it into a Center for Engaged Learning that will be fully staffed and equipped with more resources for students.

As a consequence of this endeavor, we will not only continue to provide a firstrate undergraduate classroom education for the 6,500 students in the College of Arts & Sciences, but we can complement it with a panoply of other learning opportunities that extend the classroom into the

Engaged learning is a critical part of our students’ academic experience because it provides them with a continuum of learning from the traditional classroom to prospective career paths. the College of Arts & Sciences. Several of the associate deans, and associated faculty from across the College, have stepped forward to take responsibility to manage and lead this important endeavor. We must ensure that our students understand the importance of engaged learning experiences, and instruct them as to what kinds of opportunities are available, how they can adapt these experiences to their career paths, and how they can access any available financial assistance.

Engaged learning is so important, in fact, that the College of Arts & Sciences Board of Advocates has endowed a scholarship fund to provide financial assistance to a student each year to access available experiences.

We also hope to secure enough resources through fundraising to endow the Office

real world. A Baylor education is unique to begin with because of the passion that the university and its faculty have for students.

But we must always be looking to the future, to make sure those students continue to receive the best educational experience that we can offer them.

DR. LEE NORDT DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

First Person Baylor alumna Dr. Jamie Gianoutsos (BA '06) says engaged learning has enriched her life.

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News & Notes

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Circles in a Circle

Updates on students, faculty, staff and alumni

An overview of engaged learning

14 Student Research

>> A Passion for Research New programs are aiding student research (p. 14) >> Compassionate Crusaders Learning to fight tropical diseases (p. 18) >> In Search of History’s Mysteries Campus archives show students the joys of discovery (p. 20)

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24 Study Abroad

>> Study Abroad programs map (p. 24) >> Through New Eyes Students traveling abroad learn about unfamiliar cultures (p. 26) >> New Lessons in an Old World Baylor faculty use study abroad to enrich student perspectives (p. 28)

30 Professional Internships

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Our Back Pages Baylor's study abroad programs take their spirit from the world tours led by a legendary professor.

>> Good Shepherds Using summer internships to fight poverty (p. 30) >> Hands-on Healing Internships give students a jump on healthcare careers (p. 32) >> Life at the Museum Baylor students are gaining expertise in top museums (p. 36)

38 Major Scholarships

>> Going Global The value of winning prestigious international scholarships (p. 38) >> Meet John Hill His 2003 Truman Scholarship paved the way for a stellar career (p. 40)

Baylor Arts & Sciences is a publication of the Baylor College of Arts & Sciences that shares news of interest with the Baylor family. As the University’s oldest and largest academic unit, the College of Arts & Sciences is a community of 25 academic departments dedicated to the discovery and dissemination of knowledge. It is the foundation upon which all Baylor students’ educational experiences are built.

Spring 2018

Baylor Arts & Sciences is produced for the College of Arts & Sciences

by Baylor’s Division of Marketing and Communications.

PRESIDENT Linda A. Livingstone, PhD | INTERIM PROVOST Michael K. McLendon | DEAN, COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES Lee Nordt ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES Kim Kellison | ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR SCIENCES Kenneth T. Wilkins EDITOR Randy Fiedler | CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Julie Carlson, Julie Engebretson, Jeff Hampton, Kevin Tankersley PHOTOGRAPHY Ryan, Barrett, Matthew Minard, Robert Rogers | ART DIRECTION & DESIGN Clayton Thompson, Scott Toby DIRECTORS OF DEVELOPMENT David Cortes, Clayton Ellis, Jim Shepelwich One Bear Place #97344 | Waco, TX 76798 | AS_Magazine@baylor.edu | www.baylor.edu/artsandsciences/

RACE AND FILM A special conference co-sponsored by Baylor University and the Austin Film Festival brought together educators, filmmakers, theologians and policymakers to examine the ways that film and culture have intersected over the past half-century to advance racial reconciliation and justice. “A Long, Long Way: Race and Film, 1968-2018, ” was held this past February at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. The conference considered how film has been both a divisive and unifying medium, and how it offers unique opportunities to launch substantial conversations about race, prejudice and identity.

“American films have always told our most influential stories about these topics,” said Dr. Greg Garrett, a professor of English at Baylor who was one of the conference organizers.

PRAISEWORTHY PHILOSOPHY The PhD-granting program in philosophy in the College of Arts & Sciences is ranked among the top programs in the world, according to a 2017 survey of graduates by the American Philosophical Association (APA). Baylor’s PhD-granting philosophy program was ranked No. 5 internationally after former PhD students were surveyed as to how many were now in permanent academic positions. When the same group was asked if they would recommend their PhD program to prospective philosophy students, responses from Baylor graduates gave the University a No. 15 ranking. Baylor is the only university in Texas, and the only Big 12 Conference university, to be ranked among the top 15 schools in either 2017 listing.

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STEM & HUMANITIES

KEN BURNS IS COMING Award-winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns will reflect on his career of almost 40 years when he comes to Baylor University Oct. 1, 2018, to deliver the annual Beall-Russell Lecture in the Humanities, sponsored by the College of Arts & Sciences. His lecture, “Sharing the American Experience,” will be free and open to the public. Burns has directed and produced some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made, including The Civil War, Baseball, Jazz, The National Parks, The Roosevelts: An Intimate History and his latest work, The Vietnam War. Visit www.baylor.edu/beall for more details as they become available.

PHOTO BY TIM LLEWELLYN

Dr. Paul Farmer, an award-winning anthropologist, physician and humanitarian who has been recognized as one of the world’s most influential voices for global healthcare equity and social justice, was the featured speaker in March at the fourth annual STEM & Humanities Symposium, sponsored by the College of Arts & Sciences. This year’s symposium looked at the human body from the perspective of a biologist, neuroscientist, theologian and a medical anthropologist.

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS The College of Arts & Sciences hosted NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough during a visit to Baylor this past fall. Col. Kimbrough, who has logged 189 days in space with missions aboard the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS), received a guided tour of the Baylor Sciences Building, gave a public lecture and signed autographs and took photos with students. Kimbrough and his daughter Kaitlyn, a current Baylor student, were recognized during a football game in McLane Stadium and presented President Linda Livingstone with a Baylor flag flown aboard the ISS.

REEL RECOGNITION A current Baylor student and a recent alumnus have both won awards for their work in documentary film. Gustavo Raskosky, a Baylor senior film and digital media major, had his short film selected for the national 2017 SMPTE-HPA Student Film Festival. The film, which follows the Baylor a cappella group VirtuOso as they work to create a virtual reality music video, was written by Raskosky, graduate fellow Marcos Luna Hoyas and a team of Baylor students. Meanwhile, Baylor communication alumna Erin Gaddis (BA ’16) and a partner won the 2017 NAACP criminal short documentary competition with “JustUs: Living with a Criminal Record.” Their six-minute film shows some of the challenges faced by Akewi Barnes, a poet and yoga instructor, who was sent to prison at age 16 for attempted murder.

RASKOSKY

VIRTUOSO

Zack Valdez, a doctoral candidate in the Institute of Ecological, Earth and Environmental Sciences in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences, has been selected as a 2018 Congressional Science Fellow as part of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellowships. Valdez will serve as science adviser on public policy for the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and as a result will get the chance to learn more about government and policymaking as they affect energy production, sustainability and other environmental concerns.

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GADDIS

Baylor environmental studies major Reid Pinkerton and his wife, Drue, are living in Waco’s Good Neighbor House. It’s a settlement house opened in November 2016 designed to host social, spiritual and educational activities in the neighborhood, and is occupied by “settlers” who contribute to the management of the house for a reduced rent. Besides helping to manage the house, Pinkerton oversees its environmental sustainability projects, including composting, gardening, water harvesting and drip irrigation.

The Baylor University chapter (Zeta of Texas) of Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest American scholastic honor society, initiated 20 students as new members in the fall of 2017.

Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone, PhD, was a special guest, and congratulated each student after the ceremony at Armstrong Browning Library. The Baylor chapter was chartered in 1976 and is one of only 11 chapters in the state of Texas. It includes almost 90 current faculty and staff members at the University.

Gus Holdrich, a senior University Scholar major at Baylor who has excelled in the Japanese language program in the College of Arts & Sciences, won the 2017 J.LIVE Talk Japanese speech contest at George Washington University in Washington D.C. It’s a national Japanese speech contest where competitors use speaking skills similar to those employed by TED Talks presenters. Holdrich received a cash award of $300, a scholarship to study in a six-week summer intensive Japanese language course in Japan, round-trip airfare, a stipend and a housing subsidy.

FIRST-RATE HISTORY A number of Baylor Arts & Sciences faculty members have received acclaim for the quality of their recently published books of history: A new book by Dr. Thomas Kidd — Benjamin Franklin: The Religious Life of a Founding Father — was named one of the Top 10 Religion and Spirituality Books for 2017 by the American Library Association’s Booklist Online. Kidd is Distinguished Professor of History and associate director of the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor.

Dr. Andrea Turpin, associate professor of history, won a national Lilly Fellows Program Book Award for her book A New Moral Vision: Gender, Religion and the Changing Purposes of American Higher Education.

Dr. Joseph Stubenrauch, associate professor of history, won an American Society of Church History book prize for his recent work The Evangelical Age of Ingenuity in Industrial Britain.

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Dr. Michael Parrish, The Linden G. Bowers Professor of American History, is co-author of a new biography titled Doris Miller, Pearl Harbor, and the Birth of the Civil Rights Movement. Miller was a Waco native who won the Navy Cross for bravery in the line of fire at Pearl Harbor — and was the first African American to win that honor.

STELLAR FACULTY Dr. Annie Ginty, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience, has been selected as a “Rising Star” by the Association for Psychological Science in recognition of her academic accomplishments and potential.

Eight faculty members from the College of Arts & Sciences have been named “Rising Stars” at Baylor for their outstanding research abilities and potential to receive academic recognition in their field of study. The 2017-2018 Rising Stars from Arts & Sciences are: Dr. Matthew Andersson (sociology); Dr. Ashley Barrett (communication); Dr. Elesha Coffman (history); Dr. James Fulton (geosciences); Dr. Chloe Honum (English); Dr. Jason Pitts (biology); Dr. Stacy Ryan (psychology and neuroscience); and Dr. Alan Schultz (anthropology).

Dr. Roger Kirk, Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Statistics and Master Teacher, has been awarded the Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award from the Texas Psychological Association.

Dr. Howard Lee, assistant professor of physics, has received a prestigious five-year CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation to support his research.

Dr. Rebecca Flavin, senior lecturer in political science, was chosen by the senior class to receive Baylor’s 2018 Collins Outstanding Professor Award.

Dr. Mikeal Parsons, professor of religion and the Macon Chair in Religion, is the 2018 winner of the John G. Gammie Distinguished Scholar Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Southwest Commission on Religious Studies.

JOBS WELL DONE Baylor Arts & Sciences faculty members who retired at the end of the Fall 2017 semester are: Dr. Charles Garner, chemistry and biochemistry; Dr. Walter Holmes, biology; and Berry Klingman, art. A&S faculty members who will be retiring this spring or summer include: Dr. Rena Bonem, geosciences; Dr. Naymond Keathley, religion; Dr. Manuel Ortuño, modern languages and cultures; and Dr. William Pitts, religion.

IN MEMORIUM One of the most distinguished members of the Baylor Arts & Sciences faculty, Dr. James W. Vardaman, professor emeritus of history, died Jan. 31 in Waco following a brief illness at age 89.

Vardaman joined the Baylor faculty in 1967 and taught 33 years before his retirement in 2000. He received numerous honors, including the Baylor University Outstanding Professor Award in 1986 and the designation of Master Teacher in 1993. The James Vardaman Endowed Professorship has been established in the Department of History in his honor.

Congratulations are in order for Sue Steakley (BS ’72) for her long service on the Baylor University College of Arts & Sciences Board of Advocates. Steakley, along with BOA member Gabe Calzada (not shown) have completed their board terms. At the last meeting of the board, Steakley was recognized for her service by incoming board chair John Howard (at left) and Arts & Sciences Dean Lee Nordt.

“Martin Luther on Trial,” a new play co-written by Baylor theatre arts alumna Chris Cragin-Day (MFA ’05), has been touring the United States. The fantasy is set in the afterlife, as the Apostle Peter presides over the case for Luther’s soul with the Devil acting as prosecutor.

It's not every day when a Baylor Arts & Sciences alum drops in all the way from Afghanistan to pay a visit. Col. Sparky Matthews (BA '92) is a former Baylor pre-med student and decorated flight surgeon who now serves as commander of the American medical task force in Afghanistan. In March, Matthews presented Dr. Lee Nordt, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, with an American flag that flew over the Craig Joint Theater Hospital at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan on Feb. 1, 2018 — Baylor's 173rd birthday.

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Recent Baylor journalism graduate Natalie Fletcher (BA ’14) has been given the job of nurturing innovation in the Dallas area.

As the new director of innovation for the Dallas Regional Chamber, Fletcher is connecting entrepreneurs, researchers and out-of-the-box thinkers with the business community. photo: Sean Berry

Dr. Bettina Drake (BS '01), an epidemiologist and associate professor of surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, received a 2017 Distinguished Black Alumni Award from Baylor University.

IN MEMORIUM

photo: Rod Aydelotte

Dr. Jimmie Holland (BA ’48, MD ’52), a founder of the field of psycho-oncology, died Dec. 24, 2017, at age 89. Holland was inspired at Baylor by working with her mentor, biologist Dr. Cornelia Marschall Smith. As a psychiatrist for more than 40 years, Holland conducted some of the first studies on the psychological impact of a cancer diagnosis on patients and proved that interventions to combat the anxiety and depression associated with cancer can work.

Wilton Lanning (BA ’62), the Arts & Sciences alumnus who played a major role in establishing Waco’s Dr Pepper Museum and W.W. Clements Free Enterprise Institute, died Jan. 10, 2018, at age 81. Lanning, a longtime local business owner and civic leader, was the museum’s first president and founded the 10-2-4 Collector’s Club for Dr Pepper memorabilia collectors.

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Circles in a Circle

BY ELIZABETH VARDAMAN AND BRIAN RAINES

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he Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky’s “Circles in a Circle” (seen at left) created quite

a stir when it was first shown in 1923.

Marcel Duchamp admired this work and suggested it offered “a new way of looking at painting.” For those of us

who are drawn to such ways of seeing things, this overlay of colors, innovation and creative process continues to be instructive nearly 100 years later.

Indeed, though many of us are not artists, this mysterious and evocative painting seems an ideal way to begin to show you some of our discussions and plans tied to creating our own circles within a circle here in the College of Arts & Sciences. 

COURTESY OF PHILADEPHIA MUSEUM OF ART, THE LOUISE AND WALTER ARENSBERG COLLECTION, 1950

Why is this entire issue of Baylor Arts & Sciences magazine devoted to the topic of engaged learning? Because coupled with our plan to become the premier Christian research university is an equally ambitious goal of becoming a top-tier undergraduate institution. These two endeavors complement one another, and the energy

Some schools achieve research greatness by sacrificing their commitment to the undergraduate

undergraduate experience is to transform our present College of Arts & Sciences Office of Engaged Learning into an expanded and enhanced Center for Engaged Learning.

This special issue of the magazine offers you glimpses into a picture that we have been creating across many years, but that now is being given even more focus and resources. We will show you in these pages our own A&S circles (with apologies to Kandinsky) representing values, ideas, programs and dynamics that are in the process of enhancing and extending our classroom initiatives. This issue tells the story of programs through which faculty and staff are nurturing students and linking transformative academic studies to real world opportunities.

These connections enable students to learn the value of collaboration while also gaining competencies via internships, civic engagement, undergraduate research, study abroad and national scholarship programs. Each of these endeavors creates additional spheres within which students may hone their critical thinking skills as well as enhance and extend the circles and colors of their classroom experiences in interconnected ways.

Our goal of one day expanding our efforts to create a new Center for Engaged Learning will involve supporting every student in discerning ways to link their education within and outside the classroom. This might be

experience, but we plan to redouble our efforts with our students.

and excitement on campus right now regarding the increased push for research accomplishments is matched by our enthusiasm for providing a life-changing experience for our students. Some schools achieve research greatness by sacrificing their commitment to the undergraduate experience, but we plan to redouble our efforts with our students. At the heart of our strategy for delivering a life-changing

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accomplished through finding the perfect internship, joining a research team in a lab, going on a study abroad trip to Latin America, taking an interdisciplinary, research-based course, polishing a Fulbright application or working with at risk students in middle schools within the Waco community. While encouraging our well-established and successful study abroad initiatives, the Center will focus its efforts in four key areas: major fellowships and awards, undergraduate research, informed community engagement, and transformational academic pilot programs.

We have already achieved recognition for our outstanding program supporting students applying for major scholarships and awards, and we have a vibrant community of students engaging in undergraduate research that is buttressed by other university initiatives and student groups. We want to build on these strengths. We are initiating academic programs that will help students engage and serve the community beyond our campus.

Finally, we are working on new ways to support faculty seeking to engage with their students in innovative ways such as through offering interdisciplinary courses or other alternatives to traditional classroom instruction. Our rendering of “circles within a circle� for the Center for Engaged Learning in Arts & Sciences (the graphic on page 13) shows our initial plans.

Those of us working on the Center for Engaged Learning are dreaming big. We hope to help our students win more major scholarships, awards, and internships. We want to achieve a Carnegie Classification in community engaged learning. We want more of our students to be able to enjoy the benefits of study abroad programs and professional internships, and we want the number of students publishing their own original research to soar.

Most importantly, we want to expand and enrich the circles within which our students move and have their being.

Web Directory

STUDY ABROAD

Curricular Development

Mentorship Faculty Support & Engagement

Summer Programs

ARTS & SCIENCES CENTER FOR ENGAGED LEARNING

MAJOR SCHOLARSHIPS & AWARDS

UNDERGRATUATE RESEARCH

Scholarships

Publications

Community Leadership Opportunities for Students

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Internships

INFORMED COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Now, enhanced by this new Center, Baylor students will have even more support for maximizing their opportunities here, for crowding their undergraduate hours with meaning, and for becoming circles of light within larger circles of light in the world.

We invite you to learn more about the joys and benefits of engaged learning within the College of Arts & Sciences in the pages that follow. ď Ž Elizabeth Vardaman and Dr. Brian Raines are associate deans in the College of Arts & Sciences.

We want to expand and enrich the circles within which our students move and have their being.

RIZALIA KLAUSMEYER AND DWAYNE SIMMONS 12 / BAYLOR ARTS & SCIENCES

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STUDENT RESEARCH

A Passion for Research

BY JULIE ENGEBRETSON

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WO INNOVATIVE NEW ARTS & SCIENCES PROGRAMS ARE PROVIDING BAYLOR STUDENTS WITH SOMETHING NOT ALL

CARNEGIE-RANKED RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES CAN OFFER — THE OPPORTUNITY FOR UNDERGRADUATES TO ENGAGE IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ALONGSIDE DISTINGUISHED RESEARCH FACULTY. “I think research is the perfect tool to teach actual science — what science is — and it’s much more important than what you might learn in a classroom lecture,” said Dr. Dwayne Simmons, chair and professor of biology and the Cornelia Marschall Smith Endowed Professor of Biology. “You also get the student involved in not only being able to understand a process, but also to extend that process and to make discoveries.”

Simmons himself enjoyed the uncommon opportunity to do laboratory research as an undergraduate at Pepperdine University during the summers between academic years. That experience got him “hooked” on the research process.

“It wasn’t necessarily my professor ’s research topics, but rather, figuring out questions to ask that you can get answers to — figuring out mechanisms and how something actually works in nature,” he said. “It really affirmed my desire to go to graduate school to continue in research.”

B-TRUE When he came to Baylor in 2016 as the new chair of the biology department, Simmons was keen on creating a formal undergraduate research program that would immerse students in the work and the culture of a given laboratory, and provide the opportunity 

Research is the perfect tool to teach actual science…and it’s much more important than what you might learn in a classroom lecture.

for students to contribute materially to real, meaningful research. So, with the help of Dr. Richard Sanker, director of prehealth science programs, and the prehealth associate director, Dr. Rizalia Klausmeyer, Simmons drew up a blueprint for a new program he would direct called the Baylor Transdisciplinary Research Undergraduate Experience — B-TRUE, for short.

Simmons had considerable experience launching and directing similar programs at Pepperdine University, Washington University-St. Louis and UCLA, but there would be one big difference this time. At Baylor, Simmons wanted to weave in an intentional focus on transdisciplinary research, emphasizing how researchers from different scientific disciplines must work together to solve complex problems.

Since increasing student access to research opportunities is a major goal of the Baylor College of Arts & Sciences, Dr. Lee Nordt, dean, gave Simmons both moral and financial support for B-TRUE. In addition, six science departments from the College — physics, geosciences, chemistry and biochemistry, psychology and neuroscience, biology and environmental science — each agreed to provide additional funding.

This generous support allowed B-TRUE to offer a $4,000 living stipend to each of 12 undergraduate students during the program’s inaugural run in the summer of 2017.

Students applied and were accepted based on academic achievement, demonstrated leadership and a commitment to scientific research.

B-TRUE targets sophomores who have just completed their freshmen introductory courses, as well as new juniors who are just getting into what Simmons calls “meatier” coursework. He and Klausmeyer make every effort to recruit a diverse cohort.

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Students accepted into B-TRUE are paired with a principal investigator (a Baylor faculty member) heading one of six participating labs. After receiving a thorough primer in lab safety and procedures, the students then help run experiments, pose and test hypotheses, assemble and test cutting-edge equipment and gather and analyze data. At every step, they are able to witness the value of the transdisciplinary approach to research.

Each summer’s B-TRUE session employs a common organizing theme for student research in the lab. In 2017, that theme was “Stress and Stressors.”

“Working with 40 mice, I was trying to evaluate how much the known positive effects of exercise and an enriched environment would counteract the effects of stress in the brain,” said David Carpenter, a senior double-majoring in neuroscience and biology and a member of the inaugural B-TRUE cohort.

“Understanding the value of transdisciplinary research was the most important aspect of this experience,” Carpenter said.

“All of the scientific disciplines are connected, and many utilize multiple disciplines. The overlap is oftentimes where the cutting edge research happens, and it’s where the boundaries of science are pushed in new and exciting ways.”

In addition to bringing undergraduate students into the various participating labs, a significant aim of B-TRUE is to help students comprehend and interpret scientific literature. To that end, students in the program meet weekly throughout the 10 weeks for “journal club.”

“In the journal club, the students pick a paper based on research that happened in the lab in which they’re working,” Simmons said. “The point is that they must grapple with the scientific paper and understand it well enough to present it to a room full of people [in journal club] who may be very intelligent, but have no clue what is going on in other laboratories. That was really important for me.”

Klausmeyer, who serves as program coordinator for B-TRUE, spent a great deal

of time with the summer 2017 cohort both inside and outside the classroom — running journal club meetings and also organizing hikes through Cameron Park, kayaking excursions on the Brazos River and rock climbing at the McLane Student Life Center.

SCIENCE RESEARCH FELLOWS After Klausmeyer finished her summer helping get the B-TRUE program launched, she stepped into another first-time role — as the inaugural director of Baylor’s new Science Research Fellows (SRF) program.

SRF is a highly selective interdisciplinary program that allows students to earn a bachelor of science degree with increased opportunities for research. It’s open to highachieving high school seniors, who must apply and be accepted. SRF immerses undergraduates in laboratory research within their favorite disciplines early — starting with the sophomore year.

“One of the goals in Pro Futuris [the University’s strategic vision] is to have students more engaged in science research,

and Science Research Fellows is one of the few programs in the nation — possibly the only one — that offers an undergraduate degree in science that focuses completely on research,” Klausmeyer said. “We’re preparing a group of students, at the undergraduate level, for a research career.”

Science Research Fellows are expected to join a research lab at the start of their sophomore year, receiving individualized mentorship and guidance along the way.

“During the freshman year, the Fellows take a class where they see all the research that is being done at Baylor in every science discipline,” Klausmeyer said. “As soon as their sophomore year begins, they’re working in a lab of their choice that interests them. I take the student to the professor running that lab so that everyone is very clear about what is expected of the student, what is expected of the professor and my role in monitoring the student’s progress. The students must then stay in that lab for a minimum of two years to graduate as a Science Research Fellow.”

As they enter their senior year, Science Research Fellows have the option to either

stay on in their lab or mentor first-year Fellows. But Klausmeyer says the longer students stay in their lab, the better the chances are of completing a publication as an undergraduate.

For freshman SRF major Pradeep Tatineni, a passion for scientific research was sparked quite early in life.

“In elementary and middle school I enjoyed any projects that involved researching and presenting a particular topic,” he said. “I looked at research as a way to think in a critical way and express my own thoughts to the world. Ever since I conducted my first research project during my freshman year [of high school] on malaria for an nationwide science fair, I knew research would play a big part in my future.”

Like B-TRUE, Klausmeyer said the Science Research Fellows program helps break down some of the cultural barriers to transdisciplinary research in the scientific community.

As a result, Tatineni and his SRF colleagues witnessed the wide assortment of research taking place on the Baylor campus — from studying the earwax of whales as a record of

DAVID CARPENTER (LEFT) AND PRADEEP TATINENI

(AT RIGHT) DR. MIA MOODY-RAMIREZ

environmental change to investigating the way that mosquitoes find their host and why they choose certain hosts over others.

“I see myself working in Dr. [Michael] Scullin’s sleep lab,” Tatineni said. “Right now he is researching the effects of listening to music while sleeping on a person’s ability to retain what they learned during the day.”

As the Science Research Fellows program seeks to attract even more high school students with outstanding test scores and high GPAs, Klausmeyer said the College of Arts & Sciences will seek additional funding to increase the number of SRF students receiving financial support.

“In this first year, we lost a couple of students we accepted because they were offered better financial packages elsewhere. But more funding will come later,” Klausmeyer said. “We are making sure the program is well-established and running smoothly.

Then, we will work on fundraising in a more formal capacity.” 

Science Research Fellows is one of the few programs in the nation — possibly the only one — that offer an undergraduate degree in science that focuses completely on research.

Compassionate Crusaders

BY JULIE ENGEBRETSON

SEEKING TO HELP THE WORLD'S POOR, BAYLOR STUDENTS ARE LEARNING TO FIGHT TROPICAL DISEASES THAT KILL MILLIONS

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STUDENT RESEARCH

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AYLOR UNIVERSITY

prehealth students are gaining insight into the causes and treatment of diseases that affect 1.3 billion people in the world’s poorest countries — thanks to an innovative summer learning experience at the National School of Tropical Medicine (NSTM) in Houston.

Conditions such as Hookworm Disease, Chagas Disease or the better-known West Nile, Ebola andv Zika Viruses are known as Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), and their victims include an estimated 12 million Americans. When it comes to developing vaccines against NTDs, “Big Pharma” (the world’s largest, multinational for-profit pharmaceutical companies) has so far shown only limited interest because of the modest profit potential.

These realities are of particular interest to many Baylor students from Arts & Sciences and other academic units looking to marry their healthcare career aspirations with a personal commitment to worldwide leadership and service.

A DESIRE TO SERVE “Back in 2011, when I and a group of scientists from George Washington University founded the National School of Tropical Medicine (NSTM) at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), it was students from Baylor University in Waco who’d heard about us and started contacting us,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean for the NSTM. “[The Baylor students] emailed and called us, telling us about their Christian commitment to working overseas in Africa, Latin America, Europe and Asia, and they wanted an intellectual framework upon which to base what they were seeing and experiencing overseas.”

Deeply moved by the students’ energy and earnestness, Hotez and several colleagues at BCM, together with Dr. Richard Sanker, director of prehealth science studies at Baylor University, began building a program that would accommodate missionoriented undergraduate students. Launched in 2013, the NSTM Summer Institute provides an intensive two-week primer for Baylor undergraduates on global health and the field of tropical medicine held on the BCM campus in Houston.

“We convey a massive amount of information during the two weeks and every day is pretty packed,” Hotez said. “It’s

didactic lectures, it’s group discussions and — something that’s very unique — we’ve built a teaching laboratory for them, so they actually see firsthand what these organisms look like in the lab. They’re able to see these disease pathogens that are present in the world’s poorest countries.”

After Baylor undergraduates apply to attend the Institute, the Office of Prehealth Studies selects almost two dozen applicants each summer. Generous funding by the College of Arts & Sciences pays about half of the expenses for each student. If they need housing during their two-week stay, rooms are made available at Rice University near the BCM campus.

“Every year [the Summer Institute] is very popular — not only with Baylor students but with BCM faculty,” Hotez said.

“Our faculty feel very energized by the Baylor students who are so committed to global problems. And [Baylor students] couldn’t be more delightful.”

Among other emphases, the two-week program shows students how tropical diseases fit into a greater framework of modern 21st century forces including climate change, the shifting nature of poverty, urbanization, human migration and transportation.

of poverty, students such as DeLeon often feel an overwhelming sense of injustice. They’re also challenged by the complex, multidisciplinary nature of global health. “[Following the Summer Institute], Baylor students who were thinking they were going to be pre-med and focus purely on the sciences now recognize that there’s a whole other world out there that is influencing disease patterns,” Hotez said. “And they take an interest in different disciplines.

EXPANDED VISION Junior sociology major Danielle DeLeon said the Summer Institute exposed her to a side of medicine she hadn’t previously considered and reaffirmed her desire to pursue a medical career.

“We would spend the mornings in the classroom learning about specific tropical diseases, how they are detected, why they are prominent in certain areas, and why — even though there may be a cure — the diseases are still rampant,” DeLeon said. “A whole network of doctors and researchers was at our disposal to answer questions, or for one-on-one meetings. The afternoons were reserved for field trips and time in the lab, testing blood and stool samples for disease. We learned how to test for disease without fancy equipment.

The instructors wanted us to understand the concept that when you go out in the field, you aren’t always going to have access to the best equipment. Sometimes the only things you may have to use are what you can take with you on a plane.”

After learning that one-seventh of the earth’s total population suffers from a host of diseases that fuel a generational cycle

DANIELLE DELEON

For instance, when we’re talking about developing vaccines for different tropical diseases, the science is the easy part. The hard part is coming up with the right business model for how you’re going to produce these vaccines for the world.”

After DeLeon’s experiences at the Institute, she is inspired to pursue a career in tropical medicine.

“I never would have imagined myself becoming interested in tropical medicine before the Institute, but I would like to become a physician who specializes in tropical medicine,” she said. “I would then like to either work for the Centers for Disease Control, or help start clinics in rural areas and train physicians and healthcare providers to treat the diseases that afflict their community.” 

In Search of History’s Mysteries USING CAMPUS ARCHIVES, BAYLOR PROFESSORS ARE SHOWING THEIR STUDENTS THE VALUE OF RESEARCH

BY JEFF HAMPTON

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STUDENT RESEARCH

L

ONG BEFORE THE BAYLOR CAMPUS SPRAWLED TO THE BANKS OF T H E B R A ZOS, T H E L AN D

FROM FOURTH STREET TO THE RIVER WAS HOME TO HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE IN IMPOVERISHED WACO NEIGHBORHOODS WITH NAMES LIKE SANDTOWN. THAT CHANGED IN 1959 WHEN ONE OF THE NATION’S FIRST

URBAN RENEWAL PROJECTS BOUGHT OUT THE AREA’S LANDOWNERS AND RELOCATED RESIDENTS TO OTHER PARTS OF TOWN. This is a story unknown to many Waco residents — much less Baylor students — but it’s one of many stories being uncovered and explored by students through extraordinary campus archives such as The Texas Collection, the Keston Center for Religion, Politics and Society and the online services of the Baylor Libraries. Using these and other campus resources, students in the arts, humanities and social sciences are conducting original research that builds their knowledge base and introduces them to new methods of learning. Some even discover their calling in the process. 

RECONSTRUCTING WACO Since 2006, students in Carol Macaulay-Jameson’s historical archaeology class in the Department of Anthropology have engaged in a meticulous project that is reconstructing Waco’s forgotten neighborhoods. Each student is assigned a property, and then working in The Texas Collection they use documents from the Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Waco, deed records, old 1950s photographs, city directories, county records, population census data and online genealogical resources to create a narrative of the families that lived there.

“The students trace these people backwards in time, and they become better researchers and writers in the process,” said Macaulay-Jameson, a senior lecturer in anthropology.

Her students compile their data into a monograph that ultimately becomes an unpublished manuscript held by The Texas Collection. What’s more, the paper can be added to a student’s curriculum vitae and contribute to their career opportunities. One of Macaulay-Jameson’s students landed a job at the Smithsonian Institution based on experience working in Baylor’s special libraries, and she has other students who are conducting archival research for cultural research management firms.

“The students who go into historical archaeology as a profession can get hired right away because they have these skills,” she said.

REVOLUTION IN LEARNING The turmoil of the Russian Revolution provides the backdrop for a revolution in learning at Baylor’s Keston Center. Located two floors above The Texas Collection in Carroll Library, the Keston Center is the world’s largest archive related to anti-religion activities in communist countries. Here, students in Dr. Julie deGraffenried’s Russian history classes study materials brought out by immigrants of communist countries to learn how soviet policies impacted specific religious groups.

“The project gets the students working with archival materials,” said deGraffenried, associate professor of history. “It helps show how history is an interpretation based on evidence. It’s a good lesson for them.”

The end product for each student is a paper and presentation highlighting the varied experiences of different religious groups as well as the range of interpretations within their own study groups.

“One of the core goals of college is being able to gain a greater sense of tolerance and understanding for cultures and people outside of the one we live in,” said Luke Walters, who recently graduated from Baylor with a BA in international studies. “My research in the Keston Center helped me see the world through a lens largely ignored by my generation.”

DeGraffenried said skills developed through archival research are relevant to any student.

“If they are going to be historians, there is a direct connection,” she said. “But no matter what their career will be, there is a connection.

Whether a lawyer or a doctor or a financial consultant, they will use evidence to construct a story.”

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BAYLOR ARTS & SCIENCES

WOMEN’S STORIES Shining light on the experiences of women at Baylor puts Dr. Lisa Shaver’s first-year professional writing students in The Texas Collection where they examine letters, photos, scrapbooks, policy handbooks, programs and calendars from the university’s past.

“For many students this is their first time to work with primary sources,” said Shaver, associate professor of English and director of Women’s and Gender Studies. “With archival research, you’re always filling in gaps or asking questions. The incomplete and even random nature of archival research forces or encourages students to become active members in making meaning and drawing insight.”

Katherine McClellan, a junior from Wichita Falls majoring in professional writing and rhetoric, found common ground as she focused on a specific student who attended Baylor in the 1940s.

“The pictures I found during my research were the most memorable because they really brought life to the girl I was researching,” she said. “I was able to see her in different settings — studying at her desk, walking outside on campus, and enjoying time with her friends. There were many parallels in these pictures to my own life.”

The process, meanwhile, provided her with new skills and lessons about learning.

“Archive research is definitely a practice that involves patience, a keen eye for

detail, and a fine-tuned sense of observation and ability to see the bigger picture,” McClellan said.

Sarah Trammell, a sophomore English major and self-described “aspiring professor” from Lake Forest, Illinois, focused her research on Baylor’s response to the suffrage movement of the early 20th century. The project opened her eyes to working with original documents.

“The process for accessing documents in a special collection is very different from simply checking out a book at the library,” she said.

Meanwhile, Trammell found that the documents illuminated the complexity of the issue.

“I discovered that students at Baylor had varying opinions on the suffrage movement and would regularly hold debates to discuss the issue, and I learned that the school brought in speakers to talk about the movement,” she said.

As a bonus, Trammell gained unique insight into the thoughts and personality of a legendary Baylor president — the late Dr. Samuel Palmer Brooks, who led the University from 1902 to 1931.

“I was happy to discover that Brooks believed in general equality as well as women’s suffrage,” she said.

SARAH TRAMMELL

FINDING MORE STORIES While not all Baylor professors require their students to complete or publish original research projects, a number of faculty members still introduce their students to the resources found in campus archives, which tell stories that can expand their minds. Examples include: ► Dr. Jacqueline-Bethel Mougoué, assistant professor of history, works with Texas Collection staff to create a workshop on primary sources referencing slavery. Her students then write essays on the life of Olaudah Equiano, an 18th century freed slave who became influential in England as an abolitionist, explorer, writer and merchant. ► After lecturing on the history and techniques of printmaking, Dr. Sean DeLouche, lecturer in art, takes his students to Baylor’s Martin Museum of Art where they study real examples of printmaking, including 15th century German Bible illustrations and 19th century Japanese prints and carved wooden blocks. ► Dr. Scott Spinks, senior lecturer in Spanish and Portuguese, has his fourth semester students decipher and transcribe letters housed in The Texas Collection that were written in 1808 in Central Mexico. “They make educated guesses about the lives of the letters’ authors,” Spinks said. 

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE TEXAS COLLECTION AT BAYLOR

This map provides an overview of the 40 countries on five continents that host study abroad programs with ties to the College of Arts & Sciences. These programs either offer Arts & Sciences coursework, are led by Arts & Sciences faculty, or both. Some programs last for a semester or a full year while some last for only a summer term. A number of the semester programs are also considered exchange programs.

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Study Abroad

Baylor Arts & Sciences explores the world Programs • Semester/Year Summer Programs • Exchange Programs •

•• •• • • • • •• • •• •• ••• • • ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• • ••• •• • • • • •• ••• • •• • • • • • • • • •• ••• •

Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Brazil Chile China Costa Rica Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Israel Italy Japan Latvia Lithuania Malta Mexico Morocco Netherlands Norway Peru Poland Portugal Romania Russia Scotland Slovakia Slovenia South Africa South Korea Spain Switzerland

For more information:

bearsabroad.baylor.edu

*UPDATED FEBRUARY 2018

STUDY ABROAD STUDENTS TRAVELING ABROAD LEARN VALUABLE LESSONS ABOUT THE WORLD

Through New Eyes

BY RANDY FIEDLER

B

AYLOR STUDENTS WHO STUDY ABROAD NOT ONLY GAIN COURSE CREDIT AND IMPROVE THEIR LANGUAGE SKILLS,

BUT THE EXPERIENCE CAN CHANGE THEIR WORLDVIEW AND OPEN THE DOOR TO NEW LIFE OPPORTUNITIES. Each year, hundreds of Baylor students take part in one of more than 100 Baylor study abroad and exchange programs on five continents. About two-thirds of the programs last a full semester or an entire year, while the remaining third consist of shorter programs offered in the summer. Some programs aim primarily at increasing a student’s fluency in a foreign language, while others provide academic training in business, healthcare, applied sciences, education, journalism and the arts and humanities.

When you ask Baylor Arts & Sciences students what they enjoy most about studying abroad, some common themes emerge.

FAST-TRACK LEARNING Especially during concentrated summer sessions, students are often able to catch up or move ahead of schedule in regard to required coursework. And for students who spend time on a trip devoted to the study of a foreign language, immersion in a new culture allows them to achieve language fluency more quickly than they would back home in a classroom.

Baylor alumnus Alex Jania, now working on a doctoral degree at the University of Chicago, was a history major who went on the inaugural

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Baylor in Japan study abroad trip in the summer of 2012.

“The Baylor in Japan program gives you about a year’s worth of language training in six weeks,” Jania said. “It is very intense, and that’s what appealed to me.”

Jania said using Japanese in daily interactions with native speakers gave him more confidence in his abilities, and made learning the language seem natural.

“Our Baylor sponsor, Dr. Yuko Prefume, did this funny thing. We’d be on a train or in a public area, and she’d tell us to go talk to a

Japanese person and ask them what they’re doing,” Jania said. “You were forced to get out of your comfort zone, be sociable and use Japanese. It was intense, but fun — and I now have friends there that I met randomly because Dr. Prefume wanted me to talk to them.”

Cody McKittrick, a senior film and digital media major, said going on the Baylor in Spain trip to Madrid in the summer of 2017 forced him to learn Spanish at a faster pace.

“When you’re living in Spain for five weeks you use the language every day, versus at Baylor when you cease to use it once class is over,” he said.

“By the end of the trip, I felt comfortable enough to hold a conversation with a Spanish person and get around town on my own, which is what I wanted.”

QUALITY TIME The Baylor professors who supervise each study abroad trip are not only proficient in their academic area, but are well acquainted with the customs, language and geography of the country. Being able to explore new cultures with the guidance of an experienced professor is something that students appreciate.

Clara Ruth West is a senior journalism, public relations and new media (JPRNM) major who went with senior lecturer Maxey Parrish and his wife on the

damaged town of Minamisanriku in 2017 was the most memorable part of her trip.

“It was so sad, going to these areas and hearing everyone’s stories, but it was amazing at the same time,” Cook said. “It made me question what I did in my life to deserve to be around these people, who had done such amazing things with their lives. But after spending time with them I realized that we are all human.”

Alex Jania also spent time in Minamisanriku with tsunami survivors during Baylor in Japan. The experience made such an impact on him that he has continued friendships with people he met in the city, and when it came time to pick a topic for his doctoral dissertation, he chose to write about the history of natural disasters in Japan and how the people deal with them.

Even though Clara Ruth West couldn’t speak a word of Hungarian before her Baylor in Budapest trip, she was able to see similarities between her life and the lives of those she met.

“It was kind of a reality check,” she said.

“Learning how they live their lives, I kept seeing parallels. It was eye-opening because while they are people who speak a different language, they’re just like you and me.

The students there are working and taking classes and preparing for their futures, just like I am.”

During her Baylor in Budapest experience, Christy Soto spent time with an elderly Hungarian woman named Elizabeth who CULTURAL EMPATHY was a Holocaust survivor.

“We were at a place called the Museum A trait that almost every Baylor student seems to bring back from a study abroad trip of Terrors, which is a museum of everything is the ability to see different cultures — and that happened during the Holocaust,” Soto said. “I had heard a lot about the Holocaust, the world itself — through new eyes.

In March 2011, the most powerful earth- but not how it affected Hungary. Elizabeth quake ever recorded in Japan occurred in the Pacific Ocean east of Tokyo, creating a tsunami with 30-foot waves that caused almost 16,000 deaths. The tsunami created nuclear accidents, destroyed or damaged more than a million buildings and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless.

As part of the Baylor in Japan study abroad trip, Baylor students have joined with students from Tohoku University to visit areas still recovering from the tsunami and offer assistance. Samantha Cook, a senior education major, said talk- SAMANTHA COOK ing with tsunami survivors in the heavily journalism-themed Baylor in Budapest trip in summer 2017.

“Maxey had a lot of knowledge he shared that I would not have been able to get on my own,” West said. “He knew the best places to see and the best ways to get there. There was a security knowing he’d be there to answer our questions and be our guide.”

Christy Soto, another senior JPRNM major, went on the same trip to Budapest and shares West’s assessment of Parrish.

“I can’t begin to tell you how much Maxey knows — he’s traveled a lot, and every place we went throughout Europe he had been there and studied it,” Soto said. “Also, having him and his wife on the trip was nice because they were the parental figures who were there for us if we needed them.”

had a personal connection to it, and I got to hear her story of how she had to leave the country as a political refugee. I also learned that people in Hungary really know their history and don’t want to let it die.”

PERSONAL EMPOWERMENT Besides giving them new perspectives on the world, studying abroad tends to teach Baylor students a few lessons about themselves.

“My goal is to become a language teacher in Japan, so one of my goals on the Baylor in Japan trip was to find out what life was like there, and see if I could make a living there,” Cook said. “It was challenging to be in a place so heavily populated with a completely different mindset, but it brought out parts of me that I needed in order to adapt to that environment.”

West made similar discoveries about herself during her time in Budapest.

“I found that despite my inadequacies, I can survive in a place where someone doesn’t speak my language,” she said. “It pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I found that I can get around when I’m not necessarily comfortable. I can make it as long as I have an open mind.” 

“It was challenging to be in a place…with a completely different mindset, but it brought out parts of me that I needed in order to adapt.”

STUDY ABROAD

New Lessons in an Old World

BY JULIE CARLSON

STUDY ABROAD TRIPS ALLOW BAYLOR FACULTY TO INTRODUCE STUDENTS TO UNFAMILIAR CULTURES AND GAIN NEW PERSPECTIVES

F

OR MORE THAN A CENTURY, BAYLOR

professors have been taking students with them to study in countries around the globe. Each summer, faculty members from the College of Arts & Sciences from a range of disciplines lead trips across five continents that enrich both themselves and their students.

“Study abroad makes us more empathetic human beings. It removes myopic nationalistic concerns and teaches us to be citizens of the world, putting people above patriotism,” said Dr. Stan Denman, chair of theatre arts, who has led his department’s study abroad program for many years. “This focus is central to our mission as a Christian university.”

A quick look at a few Baylor summer study abroad programs involving Arts & Sciences faculty shows a wide range of experiences and subject matter.

BAYLOR IN BUDAPEST Coordinated by the Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media, the Baylor in Budapest program has its students focus on two priorities — producing travel media for the department’s website and immersing students in European culture.

Students write an array of travel features covering everything involved in living in another country, and also take photos and make videos depicting their experiences. All of it is then published online.

“The goal is for the website to depict excellent student work that will make them more attractive to a future employer,” said trip sponsor Maxey Parrish, a senior lecturer in journalism, public relations and new media.

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In Budapest, most students take classes in media writing and editing. A special studies course is available for students who want a unique educational experience, and the Writing for Media Markets course is available for non-journalism students. Some of Hungary’s top academicians lecture in classes.

“We want to understand why things are as they are in Hungary,” Parrish said. “This opens students’ minds to know that the world is full of people who, because of culture, see things from another perspective than theirs. Today’s welleducated young people must know how to deal with different cultures, because the major issues they’ll face throughout their lives are global in nature.”

BAYLOR THEATRE ABROAD Baylor Theatre Abroad began in 2008 and sends students to Europe every other year to experience theater and theater-related historical sites in both English and non-English speaking countries. Participants always finish the trip with a week in London, including two or three days in Stratford-Upon-Avon, home of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Students can take two courses — Theatre in Cultural Context and Playwright Study. There are usually 18 to 25 students and three faculty members on the trip. In 2018, Baylor Theatre Abroad will visit Greece, Italy and, of course, England.

“Because our students see so much theatre and examine storytelling in English and non-English speaking countries, they learn that modes of expression are very similar and the stories that emerge from the human condition are quite similar indeed,” Denman said. “It is great when non-French speaking students can step away from a Frenchspeaking production of a Shakespearean play and say ‘That was one of the best Shakespearean plays I have ever seen, and absolutely the best production of The Taming of the Shrew I have ever seen.’”

LANGUAGE-BASED PROGRAMS Increasing fluency in another language plays a large part in most Arts & Sciences-related summer study abroad programs. Annual trips to Germany, Italy, China, Japan, South America and France center on giving Baylor language students a chance to progress rapidly in their written and conversational skills. Additionally, students wanting to improve their language skills can spend an entire semester abroad through Baylor-approved programs at foreign universities, such as the American University in Cairo to study Arabic.

Baylor in Spain is one of the university’s older summer study abroad programs, launched in the mid-1980s. The five-week long program holds its classes at Immanuel Baptist Church in Madrid. Faculty teach two second-year language courses as well as upper-level courses in language, conversation and composition, Spanish civilization and a special topics course on Spanish pop culture. The trips average 30 to 35 students. Three teaching faculty members usually go along, as well as a lecturer who does tutoring and handles other details.

“While Baylor in Spain doesn’t involve total immersion, in that students travel together and often speak English on our bus, students have many opportunities to speak Spanish. They live with Spanish families and must speak Spanish at their houses,” said Dr. Frieda Blackwell, professor of Spanish and an associate dean for undergraduate studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. She oversees the program with Dr. Paul Larson, professor of Spanish.

Blackwell enjoys introducing students to a country she finds fascinating because of its history and relation to the United States. The program enables her to teach more “hands-on.”

“I love teaching Spanish Civilization because we can look at the photos in the textbook, and then we actually see many of those

places,” Blackwell said. “Sometimes we get to see the familiar in a different context. Last summer, we took students to see ‘El Rey León,’ which is ‘The Lion King’ in Spanish. It was a full-scale Broadwaytype production with fabulous costuming — but all in Spanish with Spanish cultural changes.”

As part of the six-year-old Baylor in Japan study abroad program, students take part in a six-week hybrid course in which the first two weeks of classes are followed by a four-week trip spent on the Hosei University campus in Tokyo. While in Tokyo, students visit major landmarks and museums and take part in cultural seminars, company visits, special lectures, and more. Students also have an opportunity to stay one weekend in the homes of local Japanese families.

Two weeks are spent traveling to historic sites in Japan and taking part in service learning activities — one of the major highlights of the program.

“While in Japan, students get to experience both traditional and pop cultures,” said Dr. Yuko Prefume, the senior lecturer in Japanese who leads the trip. “Examples of traditional cultures are taiko (Japanese drum) lessons, shodo (Japanese calligraphy) and sado (Japanese tea ceremony). To experience a pop culture, students visit the neighborhoods of Akihabara and Harajuku, destinations of Japanese anime and fashion fans.”

Service learning has been a hallmark of the Baylor in Japan program since its inception. The catastrophic Great East Earthquake and tsunami in 2011 left more than 16,000 dead or missing and more than 340,000 displaced, and each summer since Baylor students have learned more about the devastation by visiting the area and speaking personally with survivors.

“I felt the need of going to the area devastated by the tsunami to volunteer. I thought serving others in the area affected by the catastrophic tsunami would make a transformative learning opportunity for the students.”

Prefume said.

Watching students gain confidence in their study of Japanese, as well as gaining an understanding of diverse cultures and developing compassion towards others, has confirmed the value of the program to Prefume. Baylor in Budapest’s Maxey Parrish agrees.

“A student once told me at the end of our time there, ‘I’m going home a truer version of myself,’” he said. “This meant they’d not just been on a trip to Europe, they’d taken a journey of self-discovery. They had not just acquired skills, but they’d learned more about who they are. If that doesn’t make you want to take part in study abroad, I don’t know what does.” 

Good

RN

INTE

INTERNSHIPS INTERNSHIP

Shepherds

BY KEVIN TANKERSLEY

BAYLOR STUDENTS ARE USING A SPECIAL SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM TO HELP FIGHT POVERTY

W

HEN BAYLOR SENIOR

not be the textbook. They want to live Palmer Brigham went looking something, and they’re trying to figure out for a summer internship, she how to do that.” figured she would be working in a professional position having something to do with BECOMING SHEPHERDS policy-making, maybe in Washington, D.C., or in a state capitol somewhere.

Baylor’s participation in the Shepherd Instead, the professional writing major Scholars program began several years ago, in Baylor’s Department of English found led by the efforts of Rosemary Townsend, herself as the first point of contact at Family who has since retired from the Office of Scholar House in Louisville, Kentucky, work- Student Life. Dr. Gaynor Yancey, a profesing with homeless individuals and people sor of social work and Master Teacher at fleeing domestic abuse. She was placed at Baylor as well as the director of the Baylor Family Scholar House through the Shepherd Interdisciplinary Poverty Initiative, partHigher Education Consortium on Poverty, ners with the SPARK office in overseeing a nonprofit internship program that offers the Shepherd program at the university. about 100 students from 24 colleges and “Rosemary Townsend was the primary universities around the country summer mover and shaker of all this,” Yancey said. opportunities within impoverished com- “She brought this opportunity to Baylor.” munities. The interns work in a variety of Shepherd Scholars begin their internfields — including medicine, law, housing ships with an opening conference during and nutrition. There’s a competitive applica- which they meet their intern roommates tion process to get into the Shepherd Scholars and discuss a series of pre-assigned articles. program, and six students from Baylor took “A big takeaway from that was that we part in the summer of 2017. learned about cultural humility,” Brigham “We are deluged with students every said. “A lot of people talk about cultural semester who come to our office want- competence, understanding other people’s ing a bigger experience,” said Dr. Kirsten cultures. But humility takes that another Escobar, who is a Scholarship, Programs, step and makes you take your experiences Awards, Research, Knowledge (SPARK) out of the equation.” advisor for the College of Arts & Sciences.

The students also discussed budgeting at “These students have an incredible amount the conference, as they were encouraged to of energy. They have a desire to let excel- live frugally to help them relate to the populence in the classroom start to inhabit lived lations they would be serving during their experience, and not be theoretical anymore — eight-week internships.

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“They are challenged to live on $14 a day,” Escobar said, “because $14 a day is not going to go very far. While all of their expenses are paid, the stipend is not such where they are coming back from summer with a bunch of cash in their pockets. But that’s part of the point.”

CHANGING CAREERS Baylor’s Shepherd participants said their internship experiences solidified the career goals they already had in mind, but one said her focus shifted a bit.

“I honestly wasn’t interested in criminal defense at all when I started this process,” said Cassie Story, a senior sociology major from Kerrville who worked in the Public Defender Service in Washington, D.C. “I was interested in civil and human rights law — the tamer side, if you want to call it that. But once I started hearing about all of the issues the United States has with our prison system and how the economy drives it, and how so many people are thrown into jail and their lives are ruined for something that other people might not have been thrown into jail for, that really struck me.”

For Sanjana Nayak, a senior biology major and pre-med student, the Shepherd program helped her define the career trajectory she had already adopted. She spent her internship working in the Healthy Living Initiative division of the Food Bank of South Jersey in Pennsauken Township, New Jersey.

LEFT TO RIGHT: BRYCE STOCKSLAGER, CASSIE STORY, SANJANA NAYAK

There, she taught “Cooking Matters” classes and gave lessons on topics such as how to shop for healthy foods and how to read a nutrition label.

“When I came to Baylor I was pre-med, but I didn’t really have a direction. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my career,” Nayak said. “I got interested in seeing if there’s an intersection between health and nutrition. I wanted to do more community engagement and get more involved in that, and that’s why I wanted to do the Shepherd program. In the future as a physician, I want to be more informed about that, so when I’m talking to patients who maybe have hypertension or diabetes, I’ll be able to talk about preventative measures, too, not just pills.”

Bryce Stockslager, a senior psychology major from Akron, Ohio, worked with families facing poverty during his Shepherd internship. He was in Baltimore, Maryland, at the PACT Therapeutic Nursery, which is located inside a homeless shelter. Stockslager hopes to become a clinical psychologist, and said he would like to work with patients similar to those he encountered in Baltimore.

“I had always loved working with children before, but this really clued me in to the importance of early head start education,” he said. “And once children reach the public education system, those institutions may not have the resources to be sensitive to their needs.”

FINANCIAL SUPPORT Other Baylor students who took part in the Shepherd program during the summer of 2017 included Michelle Sutanto, a senior University Scholar from Frederick, Maryland, and David Marchese, a junior history major from McAllen. Marchese and other Baylor participants said the fact that the university fully funds the Shepherd internships offered them a chance they could not have pursued otherwise.

“That opportunity was just a blessing from God,” said Marchese, who spent his time in London, Kentucky, at the Department of Public Advocacy working with the public defender ’s office. “I wouldn’t have been able to afford any of

that, especially coming from a single-parent household. This opportunity was just indispensable to my future career goals.”

The money needed to transport and house the Baylor students while they are doing their internships comes from several sources on campus as well as from the Shepherd Consortium itself.

“Some money comes from the Provost’s Office, and Dr. Lee Nordt, the dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, invests a great deal of funding support for this initiative,” said Elizabeth Vardaman, associate dean for engaged learning in the College. Vardaman and Escobar oversee the selection process for Baylor’s interns who will serve in the Shepherd program.

“Dean Thomas Hibbs and the Baylor Honors College provide other funds,” Vardaman said. “The actual, on-theground experience of those eight weeks is tied very closely to the monies we send from Baylor. We are exceedingly proud of the incredible group of students who participated in 2017.” 

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MEDICAL INTERNSHIPS ARE GIVING BAYLOR STUDENTS A JUMP ON HEALTHCARE CAREERS

Hands-on Healing

BY JULIE ENGEBRETSON

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AYLOR UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATES PREPARING

for healthcare careers have access to some of the best research internship experiences available, thanks to longtime relationships forged with Texas-based hospitals and medical groups by Baylor’s Office of Prehealth Studies in the College of Arts & Sciences.

In years gone by, completing an undergraduate internship on the way to a health career was considered a good “plus” — but now, such professional internships are seen as critical factors in their future advancement.

“Students who have significant research experiences in their undergraduate career — especially medically related experiences — are far more competitive for Top 20 medical schools,” said Dr. Rich Sanker, director of prehealth science studies. “Although medical schools and medical centers such as MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas sponsor undergraduate research programs and internships, they are extremely competitive and nearly impossible to attain without prior research experience. The internship opportunities Baylor provides not only look good on medical school applications, they make our students more competitive for research programs at top medical centers.”

Baylor prehealth students fill close to 100 research internship spots every year, providing them with a competitive advantage and invaluable preparation for careers in biomedical research and the health professions.

CMO INTERNSHIPS Uniquely designed to expose Baylor undergraduates to hospital administration and leadership, as well as healthcare-related research, the Baylor Scott & White Health (BSWH) Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Summer Internship entails eight weeks in the greater Dallas area, working with senior executive leaders of BSWH-North Texas.

Paired with a member of the BSWH Chief Medical Officer Operations Council, interns gain a deeper understanding of executive decision-making and attending administrative and operational meetings. They’re also required to complete a research project whose conclusions are of tangible value to the CMO Operations Council.

Senior University Scholar major Chase Gottlich completed the BSWH CMO internship in the summer of 2017, and said the best part about it was the strong working relationship he formed with his mentor, Dr. Jeffrey Kerr, the CMO of Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in McKinney.

“This internship addressed the intersection of medicine and solvency — the business side — and allowed me to have close, one-on-one interaction with a leader in the field,” Gottlich said. “CMOs are the highest-ranking physicians at a hospital, so that fact that you get to eat lunch with them, work in their office and complete a research project under their guidance is rare.”

The medical center in McKinney had recently upgraded their trauma level status, positioning the facility to take on increasingly critical emergency cases. Such a change in trauma level status comes with a host of new requirements, including 24-hour anesthesia care. 

“My project involved researching optimal looking at questions like, ‘Is it effective to contract terms as the hospital was selecting open up a clinic in this area? What kind of an anesthesia group to work with,” Gottlich resources would we need? Are we able to said. “So I reviewed other contracts and the take care of 90,000 people in this area?’ These experiences of other hospitals, and based programs are truly significant and students on the research and metrics out there, I pre- are working on real $2-$3 million contracts.” pared a report for Dr. Kerr to use. I felt like part of the team. I felt important.”

Due to popular demand, the Baylor Office of Prehealth Studies recently launched the Modeled after the CMO internships, Methodist Healthcare System of San Antonio the Genesis Physicians Group Summer CMO Internship, which is structured just like Administrative Internship gives Baylor the BSWH CMO internship but currently prehealth students the opportunity to work accepts only one or two students. “inside” healthcare’s administrative infra“With the CMO internships, interns are structure. Genesis is one of North Texas’ looking at the healthcare industry itself as largest Independent Physician Associations a research concern,” Sanker said. “They’re with more than 1,385 independently

GENESIS INTERNSHIP

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CHASE GOTTLICH

practicing physicians, working in more than 600 locations across 60+ specialties in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Baylor students who intern at Genesis develop a broad understanding of the market forces that are changing the landscape of healthcare delivery and financing. Recent Baylor prehealth graduate Olumide Sokunbi (BS ‘16) said the Genesis internship was almost like the clinical rotations he began at Baylor College of Medicine in January 2017 — a kind of “administrative rotation” where learning takes place on the job and a great deal of information has to be absorbed within a short period of time.

“I think it was really good for me to see the business side of medicine, to look at healthcare from a macro perspective,” Sokunbi said. “The thing I didn’t realize was how much focus is on improvement. In school, you just have an assignment, you do it, you get a grade, you move on. But in the workplace, there are so many meetings about performance and improvement.”

LOCAL OPPORTUNITIES If they want to stay closer to campus, Baylor students may apply to one of five Central Texas internship programs — in Waco at Providence Health Center, Baylor Scott & White Medical Center-Hillcrest, the Doris Miller Veteran Affairs Medical Center and the Waco Family Health Center, and in Temple at the Baylor Scott & White Medical Center.

The Providence Research Associates Program (PRAP) accepts about 10 Baylor undergraduate prehealth students each year.

It provides them with an early experience in clinical research, writing study protocols, consulting with healthcare professionals, entering and analyzing data and presenting their research at showcases and competitions.

“This internship lasts a whole year and is clinically focused,” Sanker said. “Interns are assigned to ongoing projects and might work with a surgeon who is using a new procedure, so students are looking at the effects of this procedure, the efficacy, patient outcomes and so forth. Interns might work with cardiology in testing a new drug. It involves research on the clinical side, and students get facetime with real patients.”

Accepting around 15 student interns each year, the BSWH Hillcrest Clinical Leadership Practicum is a clinically focused, hands-on research experience like PRAP, but only lasts 10 to 12 weeks during the summer.

Interns have the opportunity to design novel research projects with the help of clinical researchers, rather than being assigned to an ongoing project.

“At Hillcrest, researchers let the students drive the nature of the project,” Sanker said.

“For instance, one student was a music major and created their own study looking at cancer patients who listen to music while they’re undergoing chemotherapy — how listening to music affected their overall wellness and perception of the treatment.”

Up to 20 Baylor student interns are accepted each year to research healthcare problems affecting U.S. military veterans at the Center of Excellence Research Program at Waco’s Doris Miller VA Medical Center.

Sanker said this one-year internship is probably the most intense prehealth research program offered.

“Student interns are looking at posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other physiological problems that deployed veterans are coming back with,” Sanker said.

“These are very serious scientists working on extremely challenging problems. They have a functional MRI [magnetic resonance imaging] machine and they work with veterans, using surveys and conducting large-scale physiological studies. And the VA has added new bio labs to look at genetic markers and the like for these types of conditions.”

The Waco Family Health Center accepts around 15 students each academic year to work on clinical and public health-focused studies. Students help design and administer surveys, conduct basic research and gather data from patients.

Through the comprehensive BSWH Undergraduate Research Program at BSWH Temple, Baylor students are able to observe their clinical research coordinator’s work with research subjects (such as recruiting trial participants and administering a new drug in trial) and may have the opportunity to publish their findings. Additionally, by shadowing an assigned physician mentor, students learn more about the practice of medicine in real time.

The internship opportunities Baylor provides… look good on medical school applications [and] make our students more competitive for research programs at top medical centers.

RICH SANKER

Baylor prehealth program graduate Alexa Larsen (BS ‘16) was assigned to orthopedics at BSWH Temple for her clinical research and did work in the emergency department with a physician coordinator.

“My clinical research coordinator was a medic in the Air Force, and we did a simulation study looking at how best to administer emergency medicine in acute trauma cases resulting from combat,” Larsen said. “One of the only fractures that can be fatal is a pelvic fracture and, in the wild, special operations medics are taught to bind pelvic fractures by tying the victim’s pants around his hips. So, our study looked at whether that method was as effective as applying a more sophisticated pelvic binder that might be used in a clinical setting. It turns out that the pants work, but it’s easy to apply too much pressure, so you have to take caution.”

TROPICAL MEDICINE For Baylor undergraduates interested in global health issues, the National School of Tropical Medicine (NSTM) Summer Institute on the Baylor College of Medicine campus in Houston provides a thorough overview of the global health landscape, paying particular attention to neglected tropical

diseases and the economic, cultural and geographic barriers to effective treatment (see related story on pg. 18) “We’re developing a new internship opportunity with the NSTM so that selected students from the Summer Institute may conduct research with Dr. Peter Hotez [Dean of the NSTM] and his research group,” Sanker said. “Last year we tested the idea with five students.” 

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Life MUSEUM at the

BY JEFF HAMPTON

BY INTERNING AT THE NATION'S TOP MUSEUMS, BAYLOR STUDENTS GAIN SKILLS THAT FOLLOW THEM THROUGHOUT THEIR CAREERS

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H I L E AU D I E N C E S

Dr. Julie Holcomb, associate professor of might love the hilarious chaos museum studies and director of the graduportrayed in the “Night at the ate program. “It’s networking, it’s making Museum” comedy films, students in Baylor those connections. They see it as a very pragUniversity’s graduate program of museum matic step toward employment.” studies are serious about the potential of a life However, not just any internship will do. spent working in museums — and the intern- “It has to be an institution with a seasoned ships they complete at major facilities around professional working with the student,” the country are a significant tool they use in Holcomb said. “We tell our students, ‘We making sure that life gets off to a good start. don’t want you to end up at an institution “Our philosophy is to have one foot in where you’re the most experienced person.’ theory and one foot in practice,” said Dr. What we want to see is a truly immersive Kenneth Hafertepe, chair and professor of experience where they’re connecting what museum studies. “That comes out in the fact they’re learning in the classroom to how that we have PhDs who are full faculty, but that fits into the day-to-day operation of we also bring in professionals to come teach the museum.” in the Department of Museum Studies. As For that reason, Baylor professors are a result, our students are learning from the eager to help their students make connections. most recent scholarship and also learning “The museum world is a small world and from the latest professional experience.” we can help students find the appropriate Theory and practice are put to the test in fit,” Holcomb said. an internship, which is one of three options museum studies graduate students have EXPERIENCE POINTS THE WAY for their “capstone” project. Three-fourths of the students choose internships, for obviBaylor ’s museum studies program ous reasons. encompasses education, collections and “They look at it as practical experience administration, and internships can provide they can gain prior to graduation,” said students with experiences in all three areas.

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Recent Baylor museum studies graduate Emily Clark (MA ’16) now works full time at Baylor ’s Mayborn Museum Complex, and she credits her student internship at the Perot Museum in Dallas with paving the way for her future career.

“I think the most beneficial experience in working at the Perot Museum was seeing and understanding how a large museum is operated,” she said. “As the Mayborn Museum has increased the number of programs that we have and the way that we operate, I have drawn on the insight that I gained while working at the Perot.”

Clark’s internship included developing programs in a partnership between the Perot Museum and the Dallas Public Libraries — an experience that confirmed that her passion encompasses informal science education.

“I worked on developing one specific program about computer programming that introduced me to the idea of making and tinkering in museums,” Clark said. “I now coordinate the Design Den — the Mayborn Museum’s making and tinkering exhibit space — and I love to observe how people learn when they are making and creating

PEROT MUSEUM, DALLAS

things. The first time I gave this any thought was while working at the Perot.”

In much the same way, museum studies graduate Sarah Miller (MA ’17), now the coordinator of hands-on maker activities at the Hewitt Public Library, saw a core class in museum education come to life during her student internship at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.

“It was so important for me to actually get to participate in the planning of education

programs, deliver those programs and interact with the museum guests. Through this, I gained great experience and put all of my academic learning into action,” Miller said.

Valencia Johnson interned at Baylor’s Texas Collection archive, and after earning a MA in museum studies in May 2017 she received a Dulles Archival Fellowship at Princeton University’s Mudd Library. She has since transitioned into a contract position there as an archivist.

“I can tell you beyond a doubt that without my internship at The Texas Collection, I would not be at Mudd today,” she said. “The internship provided the strong foundation of physical processing that makes me marketable as a project archivist, in addition to my other qualities. It also provided a case study to apply what I learned in class. Also equally important, my internship offered a transitional space from viewing myself as a student to a professional.

I was treated like a co-worker and encouraged to offer my opinions.”

Abigail Hofbauer, a museum studies graduate student who

[My internship] took my academic interests and showed me how they could be used in the real world.

ABIGAIL HOFBAUER

works as a graduate assistant in the Mayborn’s Design Den, said her internship at the Dallas Museum of Art helped focus her career direction.

“I am interested in art, exhibits and interactive experiences in museums, so my internship was a perfect melding of those three,” she said. “It took my academic interests and showed me how they could be used in the real world. It truly confirmed my goals to work in an art museum.”

Hofbauer said the biggest surprise of her internship was the advanced level of work she got to do.

“There is always the stereotype of interns who simply get coffee and take notes. However, I was able to interact with large teams of people at the DMA and had input into events and ideas for the future,” she said.

Holcomb said these are exactly the kinds of internship experiences that museum studies faculty want their students to have.

“Our students are poised and confident, and they stand out with resumes that go to the top of the stack,” Holcomb said. 

SCHOLARSHIP

Going Global

PRESTIGIOUS SCHOLARSHIPS GIVE BAYLOR STUDENTS AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

BY JULIE ENGEBRETSON

E

VERY YEAR, A NUMBER OF BAYLOR’S BRIGHTEST

undergraduates prepare applications for academia’s most prestigious international scholarship programs. Scores of Baylor students have received Fulbright, Marshall, Truman and other such scholarships over the past century or so, which not only earns acclaim for themselves and the university, but proves invaluable to many students as they prepare for high-level careers with an international focus.

Elizabeth Vardaman, associate dean for engaged learning in the College of Arts & Sciences, is Baylor’s coordinator and student liaison for many domestic and international scholarship programs. Under her experienced guidance, students request letters of recommendation from mentors, write and re-write personal essays, organize their curriculum vitae and gather all materials necessary to compile applications that shine. Then, they wait to hear if they’ve been selected.

Two recent Baylor recipients of prestigious scholarships are now using them to advance their studies overseas and gain an international perspective in their chosen professions. Their stories show what kind of new doors such scholarships can open.

JACOB IMAM

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Typically, the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission notifies Marshall Scholars of their award over the phone. In the fall of 2015, however, when then-Baylor University Scholar major Jacob Imam (BA ‘16) became one of only 32 American university students to receive a coveted Marshall Scholarship, he didn’t own a phone.

“I found an email on my computer that began: ‘Dear Jacob, CONGRATULATIONS!’ I was at my mom’s house in Seattle, and I went for a walk praying a rosary before telling my family about the good news,” Imam said.

Established in 1953, the Marshall Scholarship may be used for study at any university in the United Kingdom, with most Marshall Scholars choosing to pursue an advanced degree during their two years of British education. Imam is now wrapping up his second year at the University of Oxford, where he will earn a master of philosophy in Islamic studies and history. In a place such as Oxford, Imam said he has gained as much outside the classroom, through a rich tradition of spirited discussion and debate in local pubs, as he has in his coursework.

“Professors frequently join their students in a pub and casually discuss their subjects together,” Imam said. “The newly founded Chesterton Society meets at the most traditional Oxford pub in town for distinguished debate, paradoxical insights and good friends. The Marshall Scholars in Oxford gather together every Thursday evening at what we call ‘Marshall House.’ One of the scholars will choose a topic for the week and lead us in discussion. These are always fascinating nights, especially as I seldom share the same views as the other Scholars.”

As president of the C.S. Lewis Society, Imam said the group has enjoyed hosting guest speakers including parliamentary lords, leading scholars and “even a former archbishop of Canterbury.” But Imam’s godfather, Walter Hooper, who served as C.S. Lewis’s secretary in the early 1960s, always draws the largest crowds.

For his master’s thesis, Imam is looking at how the Qur’an retells Biblical narratives, changing details slightly to provide new theological interpretations. His background in languages includes spoken Arabic, Latin, Greek and Ancient Hebrew — which should prove invaluable as he plans to continue his postgraduate education and become a scholar who enhances interreligious cooperation among all faiths, bridging some of the most critical issues dividing East and West.

Working within an academic setting, Imam intends to expand educational developments in the Middle East, specifically in the West Bank. He has been selected by Oxford faculty for a full tuition scholarship to earn a Doctor of Philosophy in theology and religion at Oxford, beginning in the fall of 2018.

“My curriculum reforms will enable Christian and Muslim students to begin a dialogue with one another that stems from their shared search for the transcendentals, or the ultimate desires of man,” he said.

“Eventually, I hope to be involved in diplomacy or consultant informing politicians how to understand the cultural implications of certain policies. My aspirations could include someday becoming involved in the leadership of a university in the Middle East.”

JADE CONNOR Jade Connor earned a BS degree in biology from Baylor in 2017. When she learned in March of that year that she had received a prestigious Fulbright study grant — becoming the University’s 48th student Fulbright recipient since 2001 — she was halfway out patient outcomes in America, particularly the door to nearby La Vega High School for sufferers of Alzheimer ’s disease and to tutor struggling students. Grabbing her other forms of dementia.

“One of our current module was focused backpack, she just happened to quickly on evaluating and analyzing healthcare check her email.

“The Fulbright notification was the first interventions specific to individual counemail in my inbox,” she said. “I was almost tries,” she said. “And, this semester, I am late for tutoring that day because I kept read- working with the Alzheimer’s Center in ing it over and over. I couldn’t believe I had Limburg, researching support interventions for the caregivers of patients with dementia. been named a finalist.”

Fulbright Grants are awarded each year In my career, I hope to effect change outto make it possible for graduating univer- side of my own practice by creating public sity seniors, young professionals, artists health programs for these patients that can and graduate students to study in more be implemented across cultures and socioeconomic strata in the United States.” than 140 countries.

As a markedly international city, Maastricht In September 2017, Connor began a master’s degree program in governance and offers visitors the opportunity to learn about leadership in European public health at a variety of European cultures, in addition to Maastricht University in The Netherlands. Dutch culture and language. Adjusting to the Packed into one year of study, Connor’s pro- metric system is a challenge, and Connor said gram requires that she absorb a great deal of she must be mindful to resist the tendency to “Americanize” everything — that is, viewing information in a short amount of time.

“Classes are structured in modules or filtering everything through the context of instead of semester-long courses, so you’re her American experience. Still, as part of the never taking more than two classes simul- Fulbright requirements, Connor sometimes taneously,” she said. “Modules are about gives talks at secondary schools throughout one month long and, so far, have focused The Netherlands about her life in the U.S. “We share aspects about the American on familiarizing us with the different types of public health issues in Europe. We have way of life with young Dutch students and been discussing the current refugee influx discuss our specific field of interest — mediin Europe and its health implications. We’ve cine and public health, in my case,” she said. also talked about the migration of patients “This, in part, helps Dutch students with and health professions from eastern to west- their English, and it’s a way to contribute to the cultural exchange between the Dutch ern European countries.”

Connor has observed at least one clear and Americans.”

After earning her master’s degree in July difference between healthcare in Europe and in the United States — universal healthcare. 2018, Connor plans to return to the United She said that while most Europeans view States to visit her family before relocating healthcare as a right, conflicting opinions to Boston, where she will attend Harvard regarding healthcare across the U.S. pres- Medical School.  ent a significant challenge to improving healthcare policy on this side of the Atlantic.

Nevertheless, Connor is eager to learn about policy and practices that may improve

SCHOLARSHIP

MEET

John Hill

BY JULIE CARLSON

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HEN BAYLOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WIN PRESTIGIOUS NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS, THEY GAIN MUCH MORE THAN A STELLAR ENTRY ON THEIR RÉSUMÉS. AS

THE STORY OF 2003 TRUMAN SCHOLARSHIP WINNER JOHN HILL ILLUSTRATES, BEING CHOSEN FOR ONE OF THESE COVETED AWARDS CAN HAVE A MAJOR IMPACT ON A STUDENT’S LIFE AND CAREER. At Baylor, John Hill double-majored in Russian and political science and graduated summa cum laude in 2004. The Arlington native used his Truman Scholarship to finance his legal studies.

“The Truman helped me greatly in getting into Harvard Law School. In fact, the

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dean of admissions at Harvard Law said being a Truman Scholar absolutely gives you a leg up,” Hill said. “For better or worse, where you go to law school matters and has an impact on what opportunities you have afterward. Competitive law schools such as Harvard value the Truman Scholarship

because they view it as a way to evaluate applicants and see who is public-minded and has achieved success as an undergraduate.”

The Truman Scholarship is a highly competitive, merit-based award offered to U.S. citizens who are college juniors and desire to go to graduate school in preparation for

Department of Justice has 115,000 people who work for it and at the end of the day they all report to the Deputy Attorney General in some form or fashion. So, I get to see all the parts and different components, such as law enforcement like the FBI and DEA, or various prosecuting divisions and administrators and how they interact. I’m able to see how we work with the White House, Congress and the Defense Department — all these other agencies.”

Hill has returned to Baylor a few times since graduation, speaking to Baylor Law School and prelaw students about life as a federal prosecutor. He also has taken part in small focus groups in the College of Arts & Sciences to discuss how Baylor can better prepare its students for success.

“I have studied at two institutions of higher learning, Harvard and Baylor, and they are very different,” Hill said. “Baylor can offer a much more personalized education and a nurturing environment, and I think that is critical. I had opportunities to take on leadership roles and to be supported in them by the administration and faculty. I also worked with faculty members who let me talk through my aspirations and what role my faith played in those decisions.”

VALUABLE PREPARATION

PHOTO BY GREG KAHN

careers in government, the nonprofit sector or elsewhere in public service. Truman Scholars receive cash awards for their senior year of college and for graduate study, participate in leadership development programs and have special opportunities for internships and federal employment.

A DISTINGUISHED CAREER After receiving his law degree and clerking for a federal district judge, Hill spent time as a trial attorney in Dallas and Houston. In March 2011 he joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia — serving

first in the domestic violence and sex offense unit, then in the national security unit.

He’s now a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s office, but since April 2017 he’s been on temporary assignment as a senior counsel to Rod Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General for the Department of Justice. In this capacity, Hill advises the Deputy AG on national security issues, policy matters that affect U.S. Attorneys’ offices, and various international and criminal law concerns.

“What I am doing now is a unique opportunity,” Hill said. “It’s a chance to see how the government works at a higher level. The

Looking back on his experiences as a Truman Scholar, Hill said that just completing the difficult application process helped him refine his career path.

“The process of applying for the Truman Scholarship helped me better identify the intersection of my talents and interests with the needs around me,” he said. “I wish every student had to complete a Truman application because it makes you ask the hard questions about your life and ambitions, and what you want to do going forward.”

And Hill said taking part in events with other scholarship winners from around the country was also valuable.

“Through interacting with my fellow Truman Scholars, I was introduced to a new realm of possibilities for public service,” he said. “It’s inspiring to be around a community of talented young people who are already making a substantial contribution in their spheres of influence.” 

Tales of the Unexpected: Reflections on a Journey of Engaged Learning

BY JAMIE GIANOUTSOS

Dr. Jamie A. Gianoutsos (BA ’06) is an assistant professor of history at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland. As a Baylor undergraduate, Gianoutsos was one of a select group of American students to win a Marshall Scholarship to pursue graduate studies in Britain. She went on to complete a PhD in history at Johns Hopkins University, and in her current role as director of competitive fellowships at Mount St. Mary’s she works closely with students as they prepare applications for the Marshall and other prestigious international scholarships and fellowships. In this First Person essay, Gianoutsos reflects on the value that engaged learning has played in her career and personal life.

PHOTO BY GREG KAHN

T

HREE IRISH FAIRIES

live in the honey locust tree outside my five-year old son’s window. They’re not your usual fairies, birthed from a Disney tale or animated American classic. These hail from a small hillside outside Waterford, where I first encountered them four months after moving to Belfast to pursue a master ’s degree in Renaissance literature. My new friend, Siobhan, a graduate student of social anthropology also at Queen’s University in Belfast, had invited me to her parents’

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home in Ireland to have an authentic experience of Irish culture and cooking. The tour of the city and surrounding countryside of Waterford, expertly offered by Siobhan’s father, included the cold Ardmore seaside, a graveyard of saints, a 700-year old AngloNorman tower, and the rugged landscape of Mahon Falls — about which Siobhan’s father explained, “Girls, our mountains are very, very old. That’s why they’re not very tall.”

It was near the falls that we were introduced to the fairy tree and its accompanying optical illusion: cars put into neutral next to the

squat, knobby tree appeared to roll upwards rather than down. Clear evidence that this was no ordinary tree.

As my five-year old would tell you, these same Irish fairies moved to the tree outside his window before he was born, when I returned to the United States after having lived in the United Kingdom for two years.

They hid away in my luggage, and when these fairies feel homesick for the Emerald Isle, they conjure a beautiful rainbow to guide them home again. Tall tales spun from Irish inspiration have fueled childhood wonder

and learning for my children, and for me, an opportunity to indulge in nostalgia for the people, places, and hospitality that transformed my own learning and widened my imagination. Fairy trees perhaps fit oddly with refined definitions of academic engaged learning, but I would argue that they capture a central element of study — that of wonder and openness to the unexpected.

Thankfully, I did not have to stow away in someone’s luggage to cross the Atlantic Ocean to Northern Ireland. My ticket was purchased through a Marshall Scholarship, a highly distinguished scholarship program that funds two to three years of graduate education in the United Kingdom. During my time there, I completed two master’s degrees, the first at Queen’s University, and the second at the University of Cambridge in political thought and intellectual history.

My summer in between these programs was spent researching in Oxford, and visiting with the professors and students studying abroad for the Baylor in Oxford program.

Over these two years, the Marshall Scholarship introduced me to the rolling landscapes of Ireland and the Tudor spires of Oxbridge. It also let me roam freely and read deeply through the pamphlets, treatises, plays and poems of the 16th and 17th century.

Leisure, classically conceived, lies at the heart of the Marshall experience — the leisure to study, to explore, to think, to compose.

A liberal arts education is intended to be just that — leisured and free — and I was deeply fortunate that Baylor had already offered me such an interdisciplinary education in historical ideas, fostered in intimate classroom discussions and nourished through research projects and extracurricular programming. I had originally entered Baylor as a political science major, bent upon a path of law school or running for public office. I eagerly took college courses on constitutional law and the history of political thought, with the plan of interning in a political office in Washington D.C. This was a noble plan, but one I found particularly difficult to pursue as a young woman with few financial means. How could I afford to take an unpaid internship?

Where would I find the means to live in D.C? At the same time, I encountered an intellectual hindrance as well, as I discovered that my passion for the political lay in the theory of politics rather than its practice. One of the most significant lessons I learned at Baylor was that the life of the mind was itself a noble path, and one that could be my calling.

After adding Great Texts of the Western Tradition as a second major with political science, my Baylor coursework became a rich interdisciplinary study of the ideas, politics and cultures of the past. Much like Machiavelli’s description of study in his famous letter to a friend, my professors taught me how to enter into the courts of the ancients and be received by them as a friend — to converse with them and probe the reasons for their actions.

In particular, my studies made me enchanted with what we refer to as “early modern” Europe, that period of time between the medieval and modern, where individuals in Italy, England, France and Spain experienced Renaissance, civil war

One of the most significant lessons I learned at Baylor was that the life of the mind was itself a noble path, and one that could be my calling. and Enlightenment. One afternoon, walking near Pat Neff Hall, I remember running into two of my professors teaching the early modern world, Dwight Allman and Robert Miner. I asked them if there could possibly be a more interesting and exciting period in history than this one — complete with Protestant reformation, the “new science,” the printing press, Machiavelli’s political philosophy, Shakespeare’s plays, the beheading of kings and modern revolution — or a period in time that better explained our own.

Baylor gave me this intellectual awakening. My professors not only instilled in me the wonder and intellectual curiosity necessary for engaged learning, but afforded me avenues to write and to publish, to present my ideas, and to join and form campus clubs such as a new medieval literary society. The Carr P. Collins Scholarship I received, which had played a significant role in bringing me to Baylor, also challenged me not just to study communities but also to serve them every week with my own hands.

Applying for the Marshall Scholarship required wordsmithing and soul-searching well beyond what I had experienced prior, and was itself a learning process I underwent through the deft and compassionate direction of Elizabeth Vardaman, associate dean for engaged learning in the College of Arts & Sciences, who gently but firmly told me to write and rewrite again. Dean Vardaman taught me much more than the technical aspects of application writing. She encouraged me to hear and to appreciate the beauty of language; in the afternoons, reading poems such as Seamus Heaney’s “The Turnip-Snedder” aloud to me, she helped prepare me for foreign soil.

Now, close to 15 years later, I walk across the quad of Mount Saint Mary’s University and gratefully encounter students abuzz with the thoughts of the ancients and early moderns. At this liberal arts university, which is the second-oldest Catholic university in America, I teach courses on the great texts, ideas, people and cultures of the European past, with a special focus on early modern Britain. I encourage my students not only to learn the skills necessary for their future professional lives, but also to spend their university days falling in love with a subject and practicing the posture of wonder, openness and enthusiasm necessary to pursue lifelong learning.

My office at the university is filled to the brim with antique maps, trinkets from European travel, postcards from faraway friends and pictures of my Baylorsweetheart-now-husband, who had initially proposed marriage to me while driving in the Irish countryside. The office holds my memories, but my daily work, within and outside of the classroom, serves as the true memorial of these great gifts I have received.

Recognizing an unmet need at Mount Saint Mary’s, I established the Office of Competitive Fellowships in order to mentor students through scholarship applications. I seek not only to help students win opportunities such as the Marshall, but to help provide them the compassionate guidance and challenging opportunities of engaged learning necessary for them to flourish.

Watching these students travel to Bristol, to Mexico and even to Belfast to pursue service and study, I have become eager to see the fairy trees they will transplant from their own adventures abroad, and to see the original investment that Baylor made in me continue to bear fruit in the lives of others. 

Our Back Pages

Taking Baylor Around the World

BY RANDY FIEDLER

T

ODAY, DR. ANDREW JOSEPH ARMSTRONG

is best remembered as the former chair of English at Baylor University whose love of the poetry of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning led to the creation of the world-famous Armstrong Browning Library on the Baylor campus. But his love of travel and of seeking out new experiences helped thousands in the Baylor Family see the world, and laid the foundations for today’s more formalized programs of study abroad.

Armstrong was drawn to travel from a young age. When he was six years old, he clipped a newspaper article about Noah’s Ark on Mount Ararat and resolved then and there 12 / BAYLOR ARTS & SCIENCES

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BAYLOR ARTS & SCIENCES

that he would see its resting place — which he eventually did. That clipping was the beginning of a travel scrapbook that Armstrong would add to for years.

It wasn’t until 1909, at the age of 36, that Armstrong was able to make the first of what would be some 30-odd trips he took to Europe. For each trip he would carefully plan his itinerary, making notes on what he planned to see. In his travels, Armstrong was able to observe royalty up close, meet luminaries such as Gandhi, Mussolini and the Pope, and witness historic events such as the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

It wasn’t long before Armstrong desired to share his discoveries abroad with members of the Baylor Family and the general

public — and make a little money in the process. In 1912 he used his business acumen to begin Armstrong Educational Tours, a forprofit company with offices in Waco and Paris that would eventually be referred to as “the oldest and largest travel bureau in the South.”

Within 20 years of its creation, the company had guided about four thousand tourists.

Armstrong’s company would mail out tens of thousands of booklets a year across the United States, advertising upcoming tours with names such as “The Rainbow Trail,” “The Southern Special” and “The Land of the Midnight Sun.” By the early 1930s, the company offered about 20 different trips a year, which included a “Round the World” tour as well as tours of destinations

that could include Europe, China, Russia, the Middle East, North Africa, Mexico or South America.

These trips were not like the streamlined tours and cruises of today that typically last a week or two. Armstrong’s shortest tours might run for six weeks, while his longest tours took an entire summer to complete.

Most tours were designed for adults, with Baylor alumni, faculty and staff often among the participants. But students often joined them, and Armstrong made it a priority to offer special tours that allowed college students to pay a reduced rate for the chance to spend six weeks traveling around Europe.

Typically, Armstrong himself would lead one tour each year. Sometimes he was joined by his wife Mary, but she also led separate tours of her own. To lead the remaining trips, Armstrong relied heavily on hiring university professors — from Baylor and elsewhere — who had knowledge of the countries on the itinerary. A frequent guide was Baylor’s dean of women, Irene Marschall, while other leaders included Baylor personalities such as German professor J.E. Hawkins, Spanish professor Annie Long and Hallie Maude Neff, daughter of Baylor President Pat Neff.

Even Baylor President Samuel Palmer Brooks led an Armstrong tour, visiting 12 European countries in 90 days during the summer of 1930. Brooks would refer to Armstrong as “the man who makes his living directing a travel bureau so that he can afford to be a college professor.” And indeed, Armstrong would use his travels to gather information to share with his students or

to locate artifacts to purchase for Baylor’s growing Browning Collection.

One special trip that Armstrong led periodically was the Browning Pilgrimage, first offered in 1926. During these treks around Europe, Armstrong would introduce travelers to diverse places connected with Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, such as Casa Guidi, their home in Italy, and London’s Westminster Abbey, the site of Robert Browning’s grave in the Poet’s Corner.

While most modern study abroad programs have added an academic credit component in addition to their sightseeing elements, the spirit of adventure and exploration that permeate today’s trips around the world remains a legacy of the pioneering journeys that Dr. A.J. Armstrong shared with Baylor many years ago. 

“In its educative effects travel is the greatest of all teachers. It brings one face to face with realities far more striking than the printed pages of a book. It pictures indelibly upon the retina of the soul those things about which one has dreamed, longed for and agonized to see and understand…The Great Teacher Travel gives many times value received.”

A.J. ARMSTRONG

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE TEXAS COLLECTION AT BAYLOR

One Bear Place #97344 Waco, TX 76798-7344

SERVING SINCE 1948 Baylor's Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Detachment 810 is celebrating its 70th anniversary at the 12 / BAYLOR ARTS The & SCIENCES University this year. festivities include a special Air Force Ball on April 20 that all Baylor Air Force ROTC alumni are invited to attend. To learn more visit baylor.edu/afrotc.