Health, Physical Education and Recreation
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Dr. Patricia Kennedy
r. Patricia Riley Kennedy is a visiting professor in the Health, Physical Education and Recreation Department. She has a B.S. in Health, Physical Education and Recreation, an M.S. in Special Education, and an M.S. in Health, Physical Education and Recreation, and an Ed.D. in Early Childhood from Jackson State University. She teaches academic courses in the area of Therapeutic Recreation and Recreation Administration. She also serves as the department’s Service Learning Coordinator and as a First Year Undergraduate Advisor. She has worked in various agencies throughout the state of Mississippi.
Dr. Kennedy is a Licensed Recreational Therapist (LRT), a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) and has served as a professional consultant for over 25 years. Dr. Kennedy’s passion is encouraging others to restore health, wellness, and longevity through active involvement and participation in quality recreational activities. She thoroughly enjoys teaching outside of the box, and developing learning experiences for students that enhance their academic learning and eagerness for the profession.
Lifelong Learning
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r. Deidre L. Wheaton is an Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies in the School of Lifelong Learning. She has a B.A. in English with a minor in African World Studies from Dillard University. Upon completion of her undergraduate studies, Dr. Wheaton began working toward her Ph.D. in the Program in American Culture at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. Dr. Wheaton has also maintained an active research agenda. She had a chapter selected for inclusion in Jose Armengol’s edited collection, Men in Color: Racialized Masculinities in US Literature and Cinema (2011). She presented a work in progress at the College Language Association Convention on Memory and Identity in Randall Kenan’s A Visitation of Spirits (1989) — a novel about black communities, religion, and homosexuality. In November, she presented research from a pilot study at the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education. She is currently working on two research projects designed to examine non-traditional students’ writing and reading habits. She hopes to use the data collected to develop workshops and make recommendations 10
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regarding strategies for improving the written communication skills of students in the College of Lifelong Learning. Dr. Wheaton was selected to participate in the Mellon Foundation Undergraduate Fellowship Program. She was awarded the Benjamin E. Mays-Samuel DuBois Cook Presidential Scholarship Award, which recognized the academic accomplishments. Her graduate course work in this interdisciplinary program emphasized African American Literature and culture as well as black identity and masculinity. While at the University of Michigan, Dr. Wheaton was designated a Michigan Teaching Fellow by the University’s nationally recognized Center for Research on Learning and Teaching. While teaching undergraduate courses that she designed such as “Race and Racism in American Literature” and “Black Religion in African American Literature,” Dr. Wheaton completed a dissertation titled “Seeking Salvation: Black Messianism and Racial Formation in Late 20th century Black Cultural Texts” in December 2008. She volunteers in the Richard Wright Center for the Written Word as a tutor. Dr. Wheaton also serves on the University’s
Dr. Deidre L. Wheaton Writing across the Curriculum Leadership Team. She is faculty advisor for the Alpha Sigma Lambda National Honor Society, co-chair of the Spirit of Safety: Educators as Peacemakers 2011 Conference, and editor of the School’s alumni informational magazine — Triumph.
College of Education and Human Development
8/13/2012 3:46:41 PM