Nexus Newsletter - Spring 2016

NEXUS

S C H O O L O F I N T E G R AT I V E S T U D I E S | S P R I N G 2 0 1 6

GREETINGS

FROM THE DEAN

SoIS MISSION

To cultivate creative, intellectually engaged, and ethical problem solvers through integrative inquiry and action for social justice and the public good.

SCHOOL OF INTEGRATIVE STUDIES

ON BEHALF OF ALL OF US This spring we will be holding the 12th annual Edgewood Engaged – our college’s dedicated celebration of our students’ scholarly efforts and creative activity. This event has anchored itself in our annual calendar as one that we look forward to because in many ways it represents something we value in the liberal arts education of our students – evidence that they have taken responsibility for their own learning through immersing themselves in disciplinary conversations and practices.

Yet, as the articles in this issue of Nexus illustrate, our students are actively engaged in their own learning in so many ways. They are challenging themselves to study abroad, to attend and present at academic conferences, to get involved through student organizations, and to address critical issues in the world around them. And our faculty are organizing themselves into communities of practice to understand how to best support our students in these efforts.

As a school, we are committed to partnering across campus to enrich student learning in and outside of the classroom, and to support faculty dedicated to facilitating these experiences.

I invite you to partner with us through our existing programs, or to reach out if you see opportunities for deeper partnerships that lead to integrative learning opportunities for our students – opportunities that we know lead to student transformation.

Dean: Kristine M. Mickelson, PhD Predolin 109 608.663.2374 kmickelson@edgewood.edu

First row: Huining Ouyang, CME; Kris Mickelson, dean; Tim Kuhman, ENVS; Sara Friar, CGE; Shad Wenzlaff, Student Research Center: Tricia Dusick, Civic Engagement; Lauren Lacey, WGS; Andrea Byrum, CGE; Lisa St. Louis, COR Bottom: Binbin Fu, Asian Affairs; Sue Pastor, COR; Angela Woodward, Writing Center; Steve Gilchrist, Sustainability Leadership; Bonnie Sierlecki, Honors

NEXUS NEWS

IDEAS INTO PRACTICE: ENGAGED LEARNING AND FACULTY DEVELOPMENT

The School of Integrative Studies has taken the lead in organizing opportunities for faculty to deepen their teaching skills and to share knowledge across disciplines with the creation of three successive Communities of Practice. This work is supported by the Engaged Learning Transformation Fund. Although faculty work together on committees and have passing hallway conversations, we don’t have time set aside specifically to talk about our teaching. We invited faculty to join a group that would meet monthly for this purpose. The first Community of Practice began in spring 2015, co-facilitated by Rebecca Zambrano (On-line Faculty Development) Andrea Byrum (Foreign Languages, Global Education) and Angela Woodward (Writing Center). The proposal was so popular that we ended up running two groups, with twice the number of participants we had expected. Rebecca Zambrano and MaryRuth Kotelnicki (Biology) led a fall group that met twice a month. Currently, Angela Woodward and Tracy Towne (Nursing) are leading a group of six, made up of both faculty and staff. Karen Ball (Learning Support Services) describes her experience in the Community of Practice this way: “It allows us to think about how we can do things radically more effectively. You put really good people together, come up with good ideas, and then put those ideas into practice. It’s not just about talking. We actually get to try out these things.” Last semester’s group did what they called “micro-experiments” with their students, involving changes to existing lesson plans. This semester’s group has been discussing ways to allow students to experience failure as a growth opportunity.

LEAP 2 COLLEGE The LEAP 2 College program has been working with twenty-eight 3rd through 8th grade students on the west side of Madison in partnership with the Lussier Community Education Center to support students academically and get them excited about pursuing post-secondary education.

Virginia Lee (Program Director) and Tatum Plonsky and Demond Hill (Lead Tutors) work in collaboration with students enrolled in ED 200 to provide weekly tutoring for the LEAP 2 College students, as well as to create enriching educational experiences and activities across a broad spectrum of academic subject areas. In addition, LEAP 2 College students have participated in field trips to local colleges and universities. In November, students visited UW Space Place, where they learned about engineering and built straw rockets.

In February, students visited the UW School of Journalism and got to work with staff at the UW-Madison radio station.

LEAP 2 College students will take part in Edgewood’s Family Science Night on April 11, experiencing science through hands-on exploration stations. The LEAP 2 College program year will culminate with an end-of-the-year celebration of accomplishments at Edgewood on May 5th. We will present certificates of achievement to each participating student.

WGS FACULTY AND STUDENTS ATTEND THE NATIONAL WOMEN’S STUDIES ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE Last November, Edgewood College was well represented at the 36th annual conference for the National Women’s Studies Association, which took place in Milwaukee. Professors Lisa King (Philosophy) and Lauren Lacey (English and Women’s and Gender Studies) were participants on a roundtable entitled “Anarchic Potentialities: Activist Responses to Biopolitical Discourses of Security.”

King focused on the issue of gender inclusive bathrooms, including the ongoing discussions taking place at Edgewood about which bathrooms can or should be designated as gender neutral or inclusive.

Lacey discussed Margaret Atwood’s 2015 novel, The Heart Goes Last, in a talk titled “Biopower, Sexbots, and Autonomy.”

Seven Women’s and Gender Studies students also attended the conference: Bonni Briggs, Sam Contreras, Hailey Johnson, Rhea Lyons, Sarah Moore, Milly Morrison, and Anna Schmit. They went to panels on topics ranging from the Black Lives Matter movement to teaching feminist biology in high schools, and heard about reasons to reevaluate Queer Studies curricula as well as ways to rethink “fat narratives” to make them empowering. Hailey Johnson, writes, “NWSA was my first experience with such a diverse collection of people where I’ve simultaneously felt a warm welcome as a young academic, feminist, and member of the human race.” Bonni Briggs described the experience as both intimidating and empowering. Several of the students who attended are already planning to propose presentations of their own for next year’s NWSA conference in Montreal.

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES PROGRAM During this Year of Community, the Environmental Studies Program and Woods Edge student organization have been working to bolster partnerships with Dining Services and Landscape & Grounds to increase food production on the Edgewood campus. Involving students, faculty, and staff in growing healthy local foods will enrich and strengthen our Edgewood community. In fall 2015, ENVS hired student Ben Pratscher to coordinate gardening efforts. We kicked off in October by planting over 1,500 cloves of garlic. The garlic will be harvested during summer 2016 and processed in the fall semester by students in ENVS/BIO 102 – Food: You Are What You Eat, a COR 1 class that focuses on food and food systems. Dining Services will use most of this garlic for meal preparation on campus. We are also planning to grow several other crops on campus that will find their way onto the plates of hungry Edgewood students in Phil’s and Wingra Cafe. Meanwhile, Woods Edge students continue to grow salad greens and spinach in the campus hoop house that they will sell as a fundraiser for the student organization later in the spring semester. They are also raising tomato, pepper, and basil starts on campus. Many of these starter plants will be sold as part of the spring fundraiser in May, some will get planted in the Edgewood garden, and the rest will be donated to support the Catholic Multicultural Center’s food pantry garden project.

N EXUS NEWS

NEXUS NEWS

CENTER FOR MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION DISTINGUISHED LECTURE SERIES This past fall, the Center welcomed back Curtis Chin, an award-winning writer and producer, as the speaker for its 6th annual Distinguished Lecture Series. Chin presented his first documentary Vincent Who? at Edgewood in March 2014 and returned in October to screen Tested, his new film on public education, opportunity, and race. The School of Education and the School of Integrative Studies cosponsored the event with CME.

ETHNIC STUDIES MAJOR AND MINOR In May 2016, three of our majors will graduate from the Ethnic Studies program. Highlights of the major experience include internships in community organizations of color and senior seminar research. This spring, the three graduating seniors have each been engaged in a semester-long research project on such issues as the Pocahontas narrative, eco-alliances with First Nations, and Native American boarding schools. Our minor program remains vibrant and continues to attract students from diverse disciplines and racial/ethnic backgrounds.

An active student organization for our majors and minors, the Ethnic Studies Association (ESA), has significantly increased its visibility this year with strong student leadership and initiative. This spring, ESA has strengthened its partnerships with the multicultural student organizations (MSOs) such as the Black Students’ Union and the Association of Latino/a Students. After hosting a social at the Center for Diversity and Inclusion this February, ESA will join the other MSOs in April to visit the DuSable Museum of African American History and the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago.

CENTER FOR GLOBAL EDUCATION: FACULTY AND STUDENT DEVELOPMENT GRANTS

Through generous institutional and donor funding, the Center for Global Education has recently been able to provide support for students and faculty to enhance their global learning. Since the spring of 2015, nine faculty members have received grants for international travel (to conferences or to develop study abroad programs) and for attending a U.S. conference on global pedagogy. Also two faculty members will participate in a faculty exchange program with two of Edgewood’s long-time international partners: Masaryk University in the Czech Republic and Zhaoqing University in China. The purpose of this funding is to encourage faculty to incorporate a global dimension into their teaching. During fall 2015 semester we awarded over $8,000 in study abroad scholarships.

Eleven students studied abroad for a full semester in Australia, Czech Republic, Ghana, Mexico, South Africa, South Korea and the United Kingdom. Forty-three students participated in short-term faculty-led programs in Cambodia and the United Kingdom. Taken together, these initiatives will significantly advance the internationalization of Edgewood College.