Student Activities and Achievements
Liz Duval, Clinical Psychology Doctoral Candidate, has accepted a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan.
Carrie Spresser, Clinical Psychology Doctoral Candidate, has accepted a postdoctoral fellowship at the Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.
Sarah Williams, a Fall 2011 graduate of the Art History MA program, will attend the University of Missouri – Columbia’s Ph.D. program in Art History. Her doctoral program is fully funded by a stipend and scholarships.
The Department of Psychology held its 1st Annual Poster Session on April 20th. Nineteen students, undergraduate and graduate, presented their research. Sofie Champassak was the 1st place graduate student winner and Mark Poirer was the 1st place undergraduate winner.
Sixteen Department of Psychology undergraduate students participated in the 12th Annual SEARCH Symposium for Research and Creative Achievements on April 19th, 2012. The winner of the Behavioral Sciences division of SEARCH Symposium 2012 was Angela P. Gutierrez of the Department of Psychology! Her poster was titled “Effects of Priming Religious Words on a Measure of AIDS-Related Stigma. Her faculty mentor is Kathy Goggin and her graduate student mentor was David Martinez. Second Place in the Behavioral Sciences division went to Mark Poirer. His poster was titled “Emotional Valance and Depth of Processing: An exploration of the Positivity Effect in Older Adults.” His faculty mentor is Joan McDowd. Congratulations to Angela, Mark and Sofie!
Are we the France of the Plains?
Assistant Teaching Professor, Lindsy Myers (Foreign Language and Literatures) posed this question to students of French 350 (French Civilization) during the Fall 2011 semester. They attempted to answer it by researching French culture in the region. Their answers were found in a variety of locations and resources off campus including the Nelson-Atkins, local schools and restaurants, the Chouteau Society and more.
*Photo is of French students Kevin Linn and Nathan Hoffmann looking at the manuscript.
On campus, the class worked with Stuart Hinds and Teresa Gipson at the LaBudde Special Collections department at the Miller Nichols Library (library.umkc.edu/spec-col-home) to identify and contextualize a variety of original French language documents including a collection of poetry dedicated to Napoleon II*, posters, letters and political pamphlets.
Another source of original French documents was David Boutros at The State Historical Society of Missouri Research Center- Kansas City in Newcomb Hall (www.umkc.edu/whmckc/). There, the students explored the Ecole des Beaux-Arts assignments of French architect E.J. Eckel who later moved to St. Joseph, MO.
Additionally, the class visited the Toy and Miniature Museum with Laura Taylor and Amanda Clark (www.toyandminiaturemuseum.org/) and were able to identify miniatures depicting elements of French architecture and style.
In the end, students created a blog with their findings and answers to the guiding question. The conclusion? There is much more living French culture here than anyone expected.
