The Foreign Language Fair hosts high school students from the KC metro area who come to UMKC to compete in events in French, German and Spanish languages. Trophies and prizes are awarded in events such as poetry recitation, “Jeopardy!” and dramatic performance, among others. Students may also participate in workshops on dance or film that use their language skills.
For news about the Foreign Languages and Literatures Department see:
For news about the English Department see:
More College News
The newly issued A&S Fall 2009 Alumni Newsletter can be found at http://cas.umkc.edu/onthequad/pdfs/quadfs09.pdf.
Among its stories is the announcement of the pending retirement of Jim Falls from the faculty of the History Department after more than 40 years of service.
We welcome the following staff new to A&S:
Rita Messina
Sandra Meyer
Two A&S administrative assistants are retiring by the end of 2009. We wish Rita Messina in Geosciences and Sandra Meyer in Art and Art History the very best in their retirements.
Fast Fact Currently, there are 51 full-time staff in A&S with an average of 9.1 years of service at UMKC. There also are 22 part-time A&S staff with an average of 10.9 years of service at UMKC as of November 2009.
A&S AUP+D DEPARTMENT CHAIR WINS EDUCATOR OF YEAR AWARD
Associate professor Joy Swallow was named educator of the year by the KC Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. See the story at:
Syad Hasan (Geosciences) has been appointed to serve on the External Awards Committee of the Geological Society of America for a three-year term beginning in July 2010. For more on the GSA, the oldest professional association of earth scientists see:
We take note with sadness in our hearts but happiness in our memories the passing of George Ehrlich, Professor Emeritus of Art and Art History (1925-2009).
See his remembrance at:
Ever wonder what the plaque on the steps of Scofield Hall marking a speech by President Truman commemorates? He received an honorary degree from the University of Kansas City and stopped to accept it on his way back from San Francisco where he had just signed the documents creating the United Nations. For more about how the UMKC Truman Center is trying to honor the Truman legacy and maintain the Truman connection, see:
The A&S Department of Theatre has announced the upcoming “world premiere” of a new play Slammed! KC Speaks Out on the Recession created and directed by assistant professor Stephanie Roberts.
To see more, go to:
328 A&S students have applied to graduate at the December 18th Commencement. Of this number, 58 percent are women and 42 percent are men. Of the 328, 92 percent are undergraduates.
At the Spring 2009 Commencement, 502 A&S students were awarded degrees. Of these 60 percent were women and 40 percent men; 73 percent were undergraduates.
Editor’s note: The UMKC Office of Research Services is transitioning the manner in which they report awards data and while we hope to be as consistent and accurate as we can in how we supply the College information to our readers, you will notice changes in how these items will appear in the E-Zine.
Grants and contracts data for November was not available at the time of publication. We hope to include this data in our January edition.
We are experimenting with this new online version of this newsletter and invite you to check it out. More details in the January issue.
The department began video-taping courses this summer with a General Physics II course. This semester they offered General Physics I (Physics 210) and Calculus-based physics II (Physics 250) on YouTube. Students enrolled in the “video” course came in for all the tests and labs, but could watch the lectures from home whenever they wanted.
The department saw this as a way to reach students who might not be able to make it to campus on a regular basis as well as having the side benefit that “traditional” students could go back and look at the lectures for a refresher or if they missed day. Check out a course at:
http://www.youtube.com/user/UMKC
