Archive for April, 2012

Dean Vaught

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

I am excited to have the opportunity to serve as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.  I have enjoyed being able to work more closely with so many talented faculty over past few months while serving as interim dean.  The College truly has an amazing collection of scholars who provide tremendous resources for the campus and the community.  As Dean, I will work to ensure that our scholarly activities are recognized by the community and strive to secure the resources necessary to further the mission of the College.  I believe there are some exciting times ahead for UMKC, and for the College of Arts and Sciences.

We continue to face economic challenges due to threats of cuts to our state appropriations.  This, combined with declining graduation rates for Missouri high school students over the next few years, will necessitate that we look closely for opportunities to create efficiencies in our day-to-day operations and to improve our ability to recruit and retain students.  Efforts are currently underway to dramatically improve our ability to retain our first-year students and to improve the number of students completing their degrees in 4 years.  We are also enhancing our recruitment efforts, and will soon have a marketing director who will focus on promoting the College.  However, our success in these areas will require active participation by faculty and staff in every department.

Over the next several years, we will work diligently to establish our reputation as the destination of choice for high school students in the region.  We will work together to implement a strategic plan that will enable us to grow quality graduate and undergraduate programs.  We will continue to build upon a culture that nurtures academic success, both for our faculty and for our students.  We will ensure that the College builds its visibility and is recognized as a vital resource for the Kansas City community.

I am delighted to be serving as Dean of the College and greatly appreciate the support I have received over the past few months.  There are some exciting times ahead for the College of Arts and Sciences, and I look forward to sharing them with you.
Dean Vaught

Meet Rosa Nuñez, A&S Commencement Coordinator

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

As we approach the May 2012 A&S Spring Commence- ment, we thought it would be of interest to see what went into making that special moment for graduating students and their families happen.  So we talked with Rosa Nuñez who has been the A&S Commencement Coordinator since Fall 2007 in addition to serving as a staff member in the A&S Advising Office.

With a recent commencement photo as her background, she indicated that it takes around 35 people to make the single session A&S Fall Commencement happen and close to 50 for the two Spring sessions.  These include the Marshals for the procession and persons to help with such things as robing, lining up the degree recipients, checking their announcement cards and others to do last minute trouble shooting.  She recruits all of this help each semester—much of it from the A&S Advising Office staff and a cadre of loyal faculty who enjoy serving as marshals. 

Among her specific other duties are: ordering regalia for faculty and keeping track of those who have done so; arranging for sufficient seating to handle the number of students and faculty who attend (and allowing for more students than those who RSVP since many do not but still arrive to take part); turn the RSVPs into color-coded (by degree) typed announcement cards to help keep participants in the right lines and to help the announcer get the name right; to work with the Dean’s Office to be sure the script is kept current and covers any special situations such as a posthumous degree; make sure that the Commencement program includes all of those who indicated they intended to graduate as well as their listing under the correct degree program with any honors they may have earned; make sure all doctoral students who are to be hooded have a faculty member available there to hood and that the exact title of the dissertation is typed on the announcement card that the announcer will use for them. 

Rosa indicated that she mostly feels rewarded and is rarely frustrated in her role as coordinator.  The rewards come from seeing students she has advised over the years graduate, especially when they ask her to pose for photos with family.  Her few frustrations came early in her time on the job when she was surprised by requests for extra scripts ten minutes before commencement was to begin.  Now she always has extras of these and other things that might be needed.  Her most interesting story was seeing the same set of parents sitting in Sweeney waiting for the second session after having seen them there for the first.  She asked them about it and they said it was because their son was a double major in A&S so he wanted to walk with both programs.  When she indicated that she thought that was great, the father commented that they had to come back the next day since their son had a third major in Biology and, while they were getting tired of commencing, since their son was having such a great time, they were honoring his wishes and going to all three.

During commencement week her days are long and her nights are short.  But after it is over, the rewards of seeing so many students and their families so happy and proud prove to be rejuvenating and her fatigue gives way to a sense of great achievement.  She is ready for the next one that will be on her in six months.  And, according to Becky Bergman, Director of A&S Academic Advising (and a former Commencement Coordinator) we can expect it to go just as seamlessly and perfectly as have all that Rosa has done in the past.

Fast Fact

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

In Spring 2012, 63.9% of the A&S undergraduate students were full-time while 41.2% of A&S graduate students were full-time.

Campus Recognizes Six College Faculty and Staff for 2012

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

At UMKC’s 2012 “Celebration of Excellence” on March 12 six in A&S were recognized for outstanding achievements in various award areas.  They are:

     
Ann Hubbard(Political Science) Chancellor’s True Unsung Hero Staff Award;    Jared Bruce(Psychology) Chancellor’s Early Career Award for Excellence in Teaching; 
     
Stephen Dilks(English Language and Literature) Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching;    Ricky Allman(Art and Art History) Trustees Faculty Scholar Award; 
  
 
   
Jannette Berkley-Patton(Psychology) Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Community Engagement;  
 
 and 
Charles Wurrey(Emeritus, Chemistry) Chancellor’s Award for Career Contributions to the University. 

For more see:

Faculty Recognitions/Awards

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

Alex Holsinger (Criminal Justice and Criminology), who received his MS in Criminal Justice from Illinois State University in 1993, was selected to be inducted to the Illinois State University College of Applied Science and Technology Academy of Achievement.  This award recognizes alumni for their professional achievements and service to others.  For more see:

Virginia Blanton (English Language and Literature) was awarded a University of Missouri Research Board grant for $32,967 to host an international conference at UMKC on “Nuns’ Literacies in Medieval Europe” 5-8 June 2012.  Conference details and registration forms are available at:

Lyn Elliot (Communication Studies) won prizes at the Black Maria Film and Video Festival and James River Shorts for her 2011 short film, “Another Dress, Another Button.” Her film has also been selected to screen at a dozen other film festivals, including the Ann Arbor Film Festival, the Florida Film Festival, the Maryland Film Festival, and the Kansas City Film Fest.  For mor see:

George Gale (Emeritus, Philosophy) reports that his book Dying on the Vine: how phylloxera changed the world of wine has just been named one of the three finalists in the ‘history’ category of the 2012 awards of the International Association of Culinary Professionals.  See:

His accompanying comment? “Bet it’s the first time a book in history and philosophy of science has ever been in the hunt for a culinary book award!”
 

Sungyop Kim, (Architecture, Urban Planning + Design) has learned that his co-authored the paper “Bicyclist injury severities in bicycle-motor vehicle accidents” has been listed as one of the most cited articles published in Accident Analysis and Prevention since 2007.  The paper has been cited in 38 peer-reviewed journal papers according to Scopus.  See:

Fast Fact

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

Among the 3,592 students in A&S programs of study during Spring Semester 2012, 656 were listed in the Freshman Class, 710 were Sophomores, 940 were Juniors and 1,286 were Seniors.  Females constituted 59.5% of the Freshman group, 58.7% of the Sophomores; 58.2% of the Juniors and 57% of the Seniors.

Faculty Activities

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

Ken Novak (Criminal Justice and Criminology) published his paper “Racial threat, suspicion, and police behavior: The impact of race and place in traffic enforcement.” in Crime and Delinquency, March 2012, Vol.58, no. 2, pp. 275-300.  See

His publication was highlighted by the Sentencing Project, which is a national organization promoting a fair and effective criminal justice system.  See:Ken Novak (Criminal Justice and Criminology) published his paper “Racial threat, suspicion, and police behavior: The impact of race and place in traffic enforcement.” in Crime and Delinquency, March 2012, Vol.58, no. 2, pp. 275-300. See

His publication was highlighted by the Sentencing Project, which is a national organization promoting a fair and effective criminal justice system. See:

He also was interviewed by the AP in stories that appeared in the Washington Post and the Kansas City Star on the Trayvon Martin killing.

Xanath Caraza-de-Holland (Foreign Languages and Literatures) was the featured poet at Park University’s International Women’s Day on Thursday, March 8. The program tells us that Caraza won the 2003 Ediciones Nuevo Espacio International Short Story Contest in Spanish and was a 2008 finalist for the first international John Barry Award.

Mitch Brian (Communications Studies) had his play “A Bucket of Blood” open March 23, 2012 at The Living Room. This is his third play (the previous two now published by Dramatic Publishing) and, like the others, is a conversation between cinema and theater. Based on the 1959 Roger Corman cult classic “A Bucket of Blood”, a dark comedy about a put upon busy boy at a beatnik café who aspires to be an artist — and uses murder to achieve his dream. For more see:

Clovis Semmes (Director of Black Studies) lectured on “Regal (Theatre) Women in African American Business, Civic, and Entertainment Culture” to the Lorenzo Green Chapter of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) in February. See:

He also contributed a chapter, “The Problem of Race and Chicago’s Great Tivoli Theater,” to the forthcoming book, The Black Chicago Renaissance, edited by Darlene Clark Hine and John McCluskey, to be released this June by University of Illinois Press. See :

Greg Vonnahme (Political Science) presented two papers at the State Politics and Policy
Conference in Houston, February 16-18. “Inequities in Campaign Money and Contribution Mandates in State Legislatures” and “Election Day Vote Centers, Voter Participation, and the Spatial Distribution of Voting” For more see:

Pellom McDaniels (History) is featured in the PBS documentary “More Than A Month.”

McDaniels and the film’s producer, Shukree Tilghman, (http://kcur.org/term/shukree-tilghman) spoke with KCUR Central Standard’s Jabulani Leffall. McDaniels has an exhibit opening at Emory University on April 18th on the artist, Benny Andrews entitled “Like A Purple Haze Across the Land: The Art of Benny Andrews.” For the opening, McDaniels will be giving a paper presentation on the artist.

Finally, in honor of this summer’s Major League Baseball All Star Game, McDaniels is contributing to the creation of an exhibit at the National WWI Museum, entitled “WWI All-Stars: Sports and the Inter-Allied Games,” opening April 5th

Max Skidmore (Political Science) was interviewed March 19th on Ohio State University Public Media as part of an AARP program on Social Security and Medicare Reform. He joined the program by telephone See:

He also participated in the Sunday Dialogue on Equitable Health Care in The New York Times on March 24, 2012. See:

Beth Miller (Political Science) has done a number of interviews for Fox 4 News on the Republican Primaries this year. One of the more recent was on March 13th. See:

Stephanie Kelton, Randall Wray and William Black (Economics) who have been instrumental in developing and promoting a new school of thought that runs counter to the economics of the Chicago School have had their arguments appear internationally. The Economist magazine featured their contributions in its January issue. The Washington Post ran a feature story in February as did The Financial Times. See:

As a result of the buzz about their theory, and concerns over the on-going financial mess in Europe, Kelton and Black were invited to Rimini, Italy, where they addressed an audience of more than 2,100. They have also garnered attention for developing a top-ranked economics blog called New Economic Perspectives. The blog is currently ranked #17 in the world (out of more than 150 blogs). For more see:

Cathleen Burnett (Criminal Justice and Criminology), a nationally recognized expert on capital punishment, testified on February 15,2012 on Missouri House Bill 1520, to repeal the death penalty in Missouri, before the House Corrections Committee in Jefferson City, MO. See

Courtesy of the English Department’s most recent newsletter we learn of the following faculty activities.

Joan Dean has published “‘Getting Known’: Samuel Becket in Ireland in the 1950s,” in The Binding Strength of Irish Studies: Festschrift in Honour of Csilla Bertha and Donald E. Morse, edited by Marianna Gula, Mária Kurdi, and István D. Rácz, Debrecen: Debrecen University Press, 2011, 15-25. She also published “In the Classroom” in The John McGahern Yearbook 4 (2011): 96-105.

Christie Hodgen’s short story, “The Drip,” appears in The Southern Review 48.1 (Winter 2012). See:

Lindsey Martin-Bowen’s poems, “Mary Todd Lincoln’s Obsession” and “Spring River Swimmers” appear in the new issue of Little Balkans Review 16.1 (2011). Her review of Denise Low’s poetry collection, Ghost Stories of the New West, appears in the current issue of Flint Hills Review Issue 16 (2011, Emporia State University).

John Barton’s essay, “‘The Necessity of an Example’: Chesnutt’s The Marrow of Tradition & the Ohio Anti- Lynching Campaign,” appears in the Arizona Quarterly 67:4 (2011): 27-58.

Michelle Boisseau, published two poems in the January 2012 issue of Poetry: “Death Gets into the Suburbs” and “Among the Gorgons”. See

She reads these poems on the Poetry Foundation’s podcast and the editors discuss her and other poets’ poems in the January issue

Jennifer Phegley was on KCUR’s “Up to Date” with Steve Kraske on February 6 to discuss her book Courtship and Marriage in Victorian England (Praeger 2011). The interview is archived at

She also gave a talk at the Kansas City Public Library on 3 February 9 that focused on alternative Victorian courtship practices. Audio and video recordings from the event can be found at

Jeff Rydberg-Cox has published an article “Social Networks and the Language of Greek Tragedy” in the Journal of the Chicago Colloquium on Digital Humanities and Computer Science 1.3 (2011), available at

He gave a lecture at the Hall Center at the University of Kansas in November called “Social Networks as a Tool for Visualizing Linguistic Data in Greek Tragedy.” He taught a workshop on Statistical Methods for the Humanities at KU in September with a tutorial on-line at

Rydberg-Cox was awarded a $2,000 Teaching Enhancement Grant from FACET with the title, “Online Spaced Repetition Exercises for Ancient Greek.”

Tom Stroik and Michael Putnam (Penn State University) have just co-edited a special issue of Linguistic Analysis 37.3-4 (2011), entitled “Sharpening the Edges.” The issue offers five essays on derivational syntax, including one written by the co-editors, titled “Syntax at Ground Zero.” See:

He also was interviewed by the AP in stories that appeared in the Washington Post and the Kansas City Star on the Trayvon Martin killing.
   

Xanath Caraza-de-Holland (Foreign Languages and Literatures) was the featured poet at Park University’s International Women’s Day on Thursday, March 8.  The program tells us that Caraza won the 2003 Ediciones Nuevo Espacio International Short Story Contest in Spanish and was a 2008 finalist for the first international John Barry Award.
   

Mitch Brian (Communications Studies) had his play “A Bucket of Blood” open March 23, 2012 at The Living Room.  This is his third play (the previous two now published by Dramatic Publishing) and, like the others, is a conversation between cinema and theater.  Based on the 1959 Roger Corman cult classic “A Bucket of Blood”, a dark comedy about a put upon busy boy at a beatnik café who aspires to be an artist — and uses murder to achieve his dream.  For more see:

Clovis Semmes (Director of Black Studies) lectured on “Regal (Theatre) Women in African American Business, Civic, and Entertainment Culture” to the Lorenzo Green Chapter of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) in February.  See:

He also contributed a chapter, “The Problem of Race and Chicago’s Great Tivoli Theater,” to the forthcoming book, The Black Chicago Renaissance, edited by Darlene Clark Hine and John McCluskey, to be released this June by University of Illinois Press.  See :

Greg Vonnahme (Political Science) presented two papers at the State Politics and Policy
Conference in Houston, February 16-18.  “Inequities in Campaign Money and Contribution Mandates in State Legislatures” and “Election Day Vote Centers, Voter Participation, and the Spatial Distribution of Voting” For more see:

Pellom McDaniels (History) is featured in the PBS documentary “More Than A Month.”

McDaniels and the film’s producer, Shukree Tilghman, (http://kcur.org/term/shukree-tilghman) spoke with KCUR Central Standard’s Jabulani Leffall.  McDaniels has an exhibit opening at Emory University on April 18th on the artist, Benny Andrews entitled “Like A Purple Haze Across the Land: The Art of Benny Andrews.” For the opening, McDaniels will be giving a paper presentation on the artist.

Finally, in honor of this summer’s Major League Baseball All Star Game, McDaniels is contributing to the creation of an exhibit at the National WWI Museum, entitled “WWI All-Stars: Sports and the Inter-Allied Games,” opening April 5th

Max Skidmore (Political Science) was interviewed March 19th on Ohio State University Public Media as part of an AARP program on Social Security and Medicare Reform.  He joined the program by telephone See:

He also participated in the Sunday Dialogue on Equitable Health Care in The New York Times on March 24, 2012.  See:

Beth Miller (Political Science) has done a number of interviews for Fox 4 News on the Republican Primaries this year.  One of the more recent was on March 13th.  See:

Stephanie Kelton, Randall Wray and William Black (Economics) who have been instrumental in developing and promoting a new school of thought that runs counter to the economics of the Chicago School have had their arguments appear internationally.  The Economist magazine featured their contributions in its January issue.  The Washington Post ran a feature story in February as did The Financial Times.  See:

As a result of the buzz about their theory, and concerns over the on-going financial mess in Europe, Kelton and Black were invited to Rimini, Italy, where they addressed an audience of more than 2,100.  They have also garnered attention for developing a top-ranked economics blog called New Economic Perspectives.  The blog is currently ranked #17 in the world (out of more than 150 blogs).  For more see:

Cathleen Burnett (Criminal Justice and Criminology), a nationally recognized expert on capital punishment, testified on February 15,2012 on Missouri House Bill 1520, to repeal the death penalty in Missouri, before the House Corrections Committee in Jefferson City, MO.  See

Courtesy of the English Department’s most recent newsletter we learn of the following faculty activities.

Joan Dean has published “‘Getting Known’: Samuel Becket in Ireland in the 1950s,” in The Binding Strength of Irish Studies: Festschrift in Honour of Csilla Bertha and Donald E. Morse, edited by Marianna Gula, Mária Kurdi, and István D. Rácz, Debrecen: Debrecen University Press, 2011, 15-25.  She also published “In the Classroom” in The John McGahern Yearbook 4 (2011): 96-105.
 

Christie Hodgen’s short story, “The Drip,” appears in The Southern Review 48.1 (Winter 2012).  See:

Lindsey Martin-Bowen’s poems, “Mary Todd Lincoln’s Obsession” and “Spring River Swimmers” appear in the new issue of Little Balkans Review 16.1 (2011).  Her review of Denise Low’s poetry collection, Ghost Stories of the New West, appears in the current issue of Flint Hills Review Issue 16 (2011, Emporia State University).
 

John Barton’s essay, “‘The Necessity of an Example’: Chesnutt’s The Marrow of Tradition & the Ohio Anti- Lynching Campaign,” appears in the Arizona Quarterly 67:4 (2011): 27-58.
 

Michelle Boisseau, published two poems in the January 2012 issue of Poetry: “Death Gets into the Suburbs” and “Among the Gorgons”.  See

She reads these poems on the Poetry Foundation’s podcast and the editors discuss her and other poets’ poems in the January issue

Jennifer Phegley was on KCUR’s “Up to Date” with Steve Kraske on February 6 to discuss her book Courtship and Marriage in Victorian England (Praeger 2011).  The interview is archived at

She also gave a talk at the Kansas City Public Library on 3 February 9 that focused on alternative Victorian courtship practices.  Audio and video recordings from the event can be found at

Jeff Rydberg-Cox has published an article “Social Networks and the Language of Greek Tragedy” in the Journal of the Chicago Colloquium on Digital Humanities and Computer Science 1.3 (2011), available at

He gave a lecture at the Hall Center at the University of Kansas in November called “Social Networks as a Tool for Visualizing Linguistic Data in Greek Tragedy.” He taught a workshop on Statistical Methods for the Humanities at KU in September with a tutorial on-line at

Rydberg-Cox was awarded a $2,000 Teaching Enhancement Grant from FACET with the title, “Online Spaced Repetition Exercises for Ancient Greek.”
 

Tom Stroik and Michael Putnam (Penn State University) have just co-edited a special issue of Linguistic Analysis 37.3-4 (2011), entitled “Sharpening the Edges.” The issue offers five essays on derivational syntax, including one written by the co-editors, titled “Syntax at Ground Zero.” See:

New Books

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

Alberto Villamandos (Foreign Languages & Literatures) published two books in 2011:

<img class="alignleft wp-image-1806" src="http://info.umkc.edu/thequad/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/64-71-large1.jpg" alt="" width="85"Alberto Villamandos (Foreign Languages & Literatures) published two books in 2011:

El discreto encanto de la subversión: Una crítica cultural de la Gauche Divine. (The Discreet Charm of Subversion: A Cultural Critique of Barcelona’s Gauche Divine.) Pamplona (Spain): Laetoli, 2011.

At the end of the 1960’s, under timid and new social liberties allowed by Franco’s regime a group of progressive but privileged intellectuals flourished in Barcelona. The book analyzes the cultural production of the group, especially literary and visual works that reflect the evolution of the Western intellectual in a new consumer society. It has been reviewed at the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia:

He also co-editied with Dr Rosalía Cornejo (University of Ottawa, Canada) Un hispanismo para el siglo XXI: Ensayos de crítica cultural. ( A Hispanism for the 21st Century) Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva, 2011.

 

 

Jeff Bennett (Sociology) has published his book entitled When the Sun Danced: Myths, Miracles, and Modernity in Early Twentieth Century Portugal, University of Virginia Press, 2012. This is a study of the relationship of a religious movement and Portuguese politics in the early 20th century. For more see:

 

Kristi Holsinger (Criminal Justice & Criminology) published her book, Teaching Justice: Solving Social Justice Problems through University Education, Ashgate: 2012. An international analysis of how teaching can impact matters of social justice. For more see:

height=”135″ />El discreto encanto de la subversión: Una crítica cultural de la Gauche Divine.  (The Discreet Charm of Subversion: A Cultural Critique of Barcelona’s Gauche Divine.) Pamplona (Spain): Laetoli, 2011.

At the end of the 1960’s, under timid and new social liberties allowed by Franco’s regime a group of progressive but privileged intellectuals flourished in Barcelona.  The book analyzes the cultural production of the group, especially literary and visual works that reflect the evolution of the Western intellectual in a new consumer society.  It has been reviewed at the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia:

He also co-editied with Dr Rosalía Cornejo (University of Ottawa, Canada) Un hispanismo para el siglo XXI: Ensayos de crítica cultural. ( A Hispanism for the 21st Century) Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva, 2011.

 

 

Jeff Bennett (Sociology) has published his book entitled When the Sun Danced: Myths, Miracles, and Modernity in Early Twentieth Century Portugal, University of Virginia Press, 2012.  This is a study of the relationship of a religious movement and Portuguese politics in the early 20th century.  For more see:

 

Kristi Holsinger (Criminal Justice & Criminology) published her book, Teaching Justice: Solving Social Justice Problems through University Education, Ashgate: 2012.  An international analysis of how teaching can impact matters of social justice.  For more see:

Fast Fact

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

Enrollment in A&S Student credit hours for Spring 2012 dropped by more than 6% over Spring 2011 but remained among the higher Spring SCH enrollments in the past 10 years at 68,837.

Student Activities and Achievements

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

Michelle Mercado (a Sociology/Psychology double major) represented UMKC and the Sociology Department at the Undergraduate Day in Jefferson City in March (through the SEARCH program). Her project was entitled “The Impact of Funding Cuts on Kansas City HIV/AIDS Organizations and Possible Implications for Treatment Adherence.” She is one of only two students who were slated to represent UMKC at the event. She will also be presenting her project to the SEARCH Symposium in April. Her faculty advisor is Ann Wood (Teaching Assistant Professor of Sociology).

The Psychology Department reports that six Clinical Psychology doctoral students were placed at top psychology internship sites across the country. The internship is a one-year, intensive clinical training capstone required for graduation and licensure as a Clinical Psychologist. The students and their placements are: Jessica Hamilton: University of Kansas Medical School (Kansas City, KS); Laura Hancock: Rush University Medical Center (Chicago, IL); Starlyn Hawes: University of Washington (Seattle, WA); Amber Hinton-Dampf: Veterans Administration Eastern Kansas Healthcare System (Leavenworth, KS) Heather Kruse: Center for Behavioral Medicine (Kansas City, MO) and David Martinez: Veterans Administration Palo Alto Healthcare System (Palo Alto, CA).

They also noted that one of their Interdisciplinary Ph.D. students, Erin Moore published an article in the February 2012 issue of the Journal of American College Health titled: “F.O.R.E.play: The Utility of Brief Sexual Health Interventions Among College Students,” See:

She was also interviewed in their author spotlight on Facebook:

Communications Studies reports that two of their former film students premiered works in the Kansas City area recently: Nick Everhart’s “Dorothy and the Witches of Oz” and Emiel Cleaver’s “Freedom is Now” which is a documentary about Freedom Inc., Kansas City’s pioneering African-American political organization. For more see:

The senior studio in the Department of Architecture, Urban Planning + Design is working on Troost Ave. Spring Semester, 2012 in conjunction with Mid America Regional Council’s “Creating Sustainable Places” initiative. In late February, it was announced that the Chamber of Commerce has selected Troost Ave. as its target for its initiative to improve an east side community as one of its BIG 5 Ideas Initiative.

The senior, urban planning + design studio is working with The Troost Corridor Group to effect change in the corridor. The Troost Corridor (the longest of the six corridors) is one of six corridors in the metro area MARC has chosen to target for federal funding through the Creating Sustainable Places initiative.

The senior studio’s focus has been to provide a baseline overview of current conditions for the group to build on when formulating a plan to address the area’s issues. The Troost Corridor Group will tackle these issues through three aims: creating a viable corridor, promoting the local economy, and place making. The students have provided a basic corridor-wide examination of the demographics, transportation, business mix, public facilities, and environmental domain as well as an analysis of existing city plans and projects that affect the area. For more:

AUP+D Students help UMKC Win Award
UMKC has been named to the 2012 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction by the Corporation for National Community Service. Among the three UMKC activities evaluated to gain this award was The Kansas City Missouri School District Repurposing Project of the College of Arts & Sciences Department of AUP+D. The description of the award winning activity is below.

Development of a Strategic Plan and Implementation Guidebook to reconnect Kansas City, Missouri School District schools and repurposed facilities to the community they serve.

In the spring of 2010, the Kansas City, Missouri School board voted to close 24 schools in an unprecedented attempt to meet a projected $40 million budget shortfall and consolidate a dwindling student population in fewer buildings to maximize the capacity of existing facilities. All the remaining middle schools were closed and grades 6, 7 and 8 redistributed to elementary or high schools; historic Westport High School was closed, 17 elementary schools were closed and several hundred more teachers and building staff were recently terminated. Patrons, neighborhood residents, and parents have expressed great concern about the sweeping changes being attempted in a 6 month period and concern about vacant buildings being left to deteriorate in neighborhoods already challenged by poverty, crime and inadequate housing. At least fifteen of the district’s buildings were closed in previous years, leaving almost 40 vacant buildings in the community.

The studio examined a comprehensive and strategic approach to the challenge of repurposing the closed facilities and solutions for reconnecting all the KCMSD facilities, both open and closed to the neighborhoods they serve. By studying the history of the District, its relationship to the central core of the city, and relevant data and analysis, the studio produced a Guidebook, including a community engagement process to assist the District in strategic decision-making about the future of its facilities and their impact on the community.

See:

Asheka Jackson, Jennifer Goodwin, Michael Davis and Scott Finley (graduate students in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology) individually presented original research at the annual meetings of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in New York City March 15 and 16, 2012. For more information see:

Eight A&S Students to Receive Campus Awards
The selection committee has chosen eight students from the College of Arts and Sciences – Candace Brown, Jay Devineni, Angela Fitle, Asheka Jackson, Bethany Mullinex, Lola Oduyeru, Chelsia Potts and Melanie Somogie – as Spring, 2012, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Honor Recipients. The committee was impressed with their academic achievements, leadership roles, and service to the University and community. They were nominated by their departmental faculty and department chairs.

English Department GTA’s Play Wins Award Nicholas Sawin’s play “Unnamed Lands” was named a National Semi-Finalist at the 2012 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region V Ten-Minute Play Festival. KCACTF was held in Ames, Iowa, January 15-20, 2012 and ended with a concert reading of his play. The sixteen Semi-Finalist plays from across the nation will be read by a new group of respondents, who will pick four to have concert readings at the Kennedy Center.

The History Department Student Exhibit, “BBQ, Baseball and Jazz” will be installed in the Lincoln Building on the corner of 18th & Vine next month. It was previously displayed at Miller Nichols Library. See:

Fast Fact

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

Total A&S Enrollment Headcount for Spring Semester 2012 was 5,605.  88% were enrolled in undergraduate programs and 12% were in graduate programs.

Staff Corner

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

At the 2012 Cross-Examination Debate Association National Tournament held at the University of Oklahoma the weekend of March 23-25, Gabe Cook (Communications Studies) Project Director for DEBATE-Kansas City was awarded the Public Advocate of the Year Award by the Association.  The Public Advocate of the Year award acknowledges the contribution of an individual during the past year that made a positive contribution to public discourse on matters of social import.  The award recipient need not have a direct relationship to intercollegiate debate, but must be someone who has made a significant difference in local, regional, national or international affairs.  This is the first time that someone from UMKC has won this award.  For more see:

LaDonna McCullough (Administrative Assistant, Black Studies) was elected as the first President of UMKC’s Association for Women of Color organization in December 2011.  The mission of the organization is to 1) advance professional growth and development for women of color at UMKC; 2) address issues unique to women of color at UMKC; 3) take an active leadership role in encouraging, mentoring and developing women of color; and 4) create and award financial assistance to individuals for scholarship and professional development.  The organization can be reached at umkc-awoc@umkc.edu.

New Letters on the Air Goes International

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

We have learned from Annie Walsh, the Assistant Producer, of a new audience for New Letters on the Air.  A recent press release tells us that “In Warwickshire, England, Keith Phillimore found an unfamiliar radio broadcast in the static on his portable receiver: a male voice reading poetry.  By way of Hamburger Lokalradio, a radio station based in Hamburg, Germany, which reaches listeners beyond the city’s borders via a high-powered shortwave radio service, Mr. Phillimore enjoyed a half-hour literary program on Nov. 22, 2011, recorded partway around the world in Kansas City, Missouri—a New Letters on the Air broadcast, featuring host Angela Elam interviewing poet Wayne Miller.”… “Hamburger Lokalradio began airing the program last October as part of its weekly Tuesday broadcast to English-speaking audiences.  “The fantastic show…adds nicely to a couple other literature and culture-minded programs on the regular schedule,” said producer Thomas Völkner in Germany.” See:

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