College of Humanities and Public Affairs Fall 2011 ...€¦ · Ranger Challenge team, and the...

Mission Statement for CHPAThe faculty of the College of Humanities and Public Affairs helps students to understand the nuances of social and political structures, criminal justice, culturally-based ethical and interpersonal behavior, religious systems, and eco-nomic processes within a global, historical, and contemporary context. CHPA presents the concepts contained in the University’s Public Affairs mission and applies them to real-world problems and situations so that our students will be better prepared to become citizens and leaders.

Dean’s Corner: Dean Victor H. Matthews Focus on

Fall 2011

College of Humanities and Public Affairs

Fall 2011 Newsletter * Volume 14, Issue 2

A new academic year brings new faces and new energy to the university. I am pleased to welcome new department heads: Craig Hemmens (Criminology); Kathleen Kennedy (His-tory); and LTC Troy Wisdom (ROTC). They join a strong administrative and faculty team that is doing great things for the college and university. In particular, I am pleased to note the creation of the new Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice (see them on the web at http://criminology.missouristate.edu/default.asp). I hope you enjoy reading about all of the faculty and student accomplishments listed in this issue.

As you will see in reading through this edition of the CHPA Newsletter, the faculty and students are taking the university’s mission in Public Affairs to heart. They understand that they have an obligation during their time at the university to become engaged in the major issues that face our community (homelessness; domestic violence; hunger) and the world (model United Nations). Since they will be the leaders in the future, it is just as well that they begin now to participate in the process that seeks solutions and plans for a better world. At the same time, of course, it is impor-tant to pay homage to and learn the lessons of the past. Like many communities throughout the United States, we celebrated the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. In addition to dramatic reenactments, there was also time to reflect on the forces that drove our country apart and the ways in which the breach was eventually healed. An additional facet of that era has been explored by Anthropology students whose ongoing field school at the Berry homestead site in Ash Grove continues to bring to light the lives of African Americans in southwest Missouri. The cultural competence element of the university’s mission is being advanced through our field work in Bluefields, Jamaica and study away programs.

I also hope you will enjoy the features on our alumni that are found throughout this issue. It is important to take note of the impact that Missouri State University is having through its graduates. For instance, Adam Crumbliss, a Political Science graduate, currently serves as chief clerk of the Missouri House of Representa-tives and Religious Studies alumnus Laura Kay Pearson is now serving as the Youth Development Coordinator, Peace Corps, in Cameroon. Please let us know what you have been doing since you left Missouri State University. There is an online alumni survey that you can use (http://www.missouristate.edu/chpa/8934.htm) or just call or email us. We are always happy to hear from our graduates.

http://criminology.missouristate.edu/default.asp

http://www.missouristate.edu/chpa/8934.htm

http://www.missouristate.edu/chpa/8934.htm


Fall 2011

Inside This Issue: Page:Dean’s Corner .........................................................................................................1CHPA Public Affairs

- Public Affairs & Ethical Leadership .......................................................... 3- Public Affairs & Community Engagement .............................................. 6- Public Affairs & Cultural Competence ...................................................12

CHPA Faculty Achievements .............................................................................15College News

Missouri Archaeology Society .....................................................................17Criminology & Criminal Justice ..................................................................19Economics .....................................................................................................21History ............................................................................................................21Military Science .............................................................................................23Philosophy ......................................................................................................25Political Science .............................................................................................25Religious Studies............................................................................................27Sociology & Anthropology .........................................................................30

CHPA Giving .......................................................................................................35


Fall 2011

Public Affairs is:

Ethical LeadershipBear Battalion

Reigns Supreme!

Shown, this page and next, are members of the MSU Bear Battalion female ranger challenge team and male alpha team.Pictures by Michael Gulledge, photo editor at The Standard.

Missouri State’s ROTC Bear Battalion dominated the Rang-er Challenge at Fort Leonard Wood, MO on Saturday, 15 October 2011. This is the first year that the Battalion fielded an all-female Ranger Challenge team, and the women’s team took first place over-all! The two men’s teams also performed well, with the men’s Alpha Team taking second place and the men’s Bravo Team placing eighth in its division. The Ranger Challenge, considered a “best of the best” competition that mirrors the Army Ranger Challenge, consists of ten challenges: a Physical Fitness Test, Land Navigation, Casevac, One-Rope Bridge, Weapons Qualification, Weapons Assembly, Knot Tying, an Obstacle Course, a Grenade Toss and a Ruck March. Preparation for the challenge started the first week of the fall semester. Master Sargeant David Dowell, Profes-sor of Military Science, said, “Training consists of 5:30 a.m. practices every morning to go over techniques for the various challenges. We do different training every day of the week.” “ROTC is one of the premier leadership development programs in America,” Lieutenant Colonel Troy Wis-dom, Military Science Department Head and Professor of Military Science, said. “Going through a university, such as ROTC, I think you are more well-rounded. You have that interaction with social organizations on campus. At West Point, it’s all Army, all the time. You can do very well with that, I just think an ROTC commission [from a university, such as MSU] is actually more well-rounded.” LTC Wisdom continued, “ROTC also allows individuals to develop leadership over time.” Continued on next page...


Fall 2011

Missouri State was also included in “G.I. Jobs” magazine’s Military Friendly Schools’ List for 2012. LTC Wisdom, who attended MSU for his undergraduate de-gree, said he could see those qualities on campus. “I think we see it every day in the support in the community. If I walk around the campus in uniform, I get thank yous,” he said. The people on campus “really sup-

port the military and I honestly believe that we would not be able to win our nation’s wars without the society supporting the mil-itary. We’ve seen it in the past and we know that without the support of civilians we just wouldn’t be successful. So I think that also helps our recruitment and the development of the ROTC program. So it’s incredible, absolutely incredible.”

(This article is taken from a story by Megan Gates in The Standard, Tuesday, 18 October 2011.)

Public Affairs is:

Ethical Leadership...Bear Battalion, continued

by Ann Fuhrman, Government Document Specialist, Meyer Library

Missouri State University’s World Affairs Council students, along with the Model UN students at Drury University, collaborated on the 2011 installment of the Mid-Amer-ican Model United Nations. “MAMUN” that has been held on the MSU campus for area high school and middle school students annually since at least 1974 (there is archival evidence to suggest that there was a college level “Little United Nations Assembly” as far back as 1960!). This year MAMUN was held November 7th & 8th in Plaster Student Union. Participating students act as delegates, representing UN member nations or an NGO (Non-Government Organization), learning about international relations and foreign affairs, with the goal of developing solutions to the world’s problems! A dozen schools sent delegations to discuss topics as wide-ranging as human trafficking and climate change in committee sessions simulating the UN’s General Assembly, Economic and Social Council, and the Commission on Sustainable Development. This year, in addition to a current Security Council simulation, there were two Historical Security Councils: Continued on next page...

MSU Students Collaborate onMid-American Model United Nations

Ann Fuhrman


Fall 2011

Cold War (1973) and Post-Cold War (2003), encouraging a study of history. Model UN also teaches vital skills in negotiation, public speaking, problem solving, conflict resolution, research and communication, with the added bo-nus of the students gaining a firmer grasp of world geography (as Meyer Library Maps Librarian, Jim Coombs, says, “it’s all about geography!”). After their duties hosting and facilitating MAMUN, some of the World Affairs Council students switched gears to act as delegates representing Guinea at the prestigious American Model United Nations (AMUN) in Chi-cago, November 19-22nd. Model United Nations is an invaluable experience, impacting the lives of current leaders in law, government, business and the arts such as: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, Former World Court Justice Stephen M. Schwebel, ABC’s Good Morning America anchor George Stephanopoulos, and actors Samuel L. Jackson and Rainn Wilson. At MSU we’ve watched our Model UN students go on to graduate programs and professional schools around the word; become lawyers, teachers, and successful business persons; intern for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; get good jobs with the Social Security Administra-tion, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, etc., articulating the three themes of the university’s public affairs mission: ethical leadership, cultural competence and community engagement.

...Model United Nations, continued

Public Affairs is:

Ethical Leadership

Alumnus Adam Crumbliss Special Guest at Majors Meeting

The Political Science Department hosted a “Second-to-Last Annual Undergraduate PLS Majors Meeting and Ice Cream Social” in October, 2011, with special guest Adam Crumbliss (pictured below right). Mr. Crumbliss currently serves as chief clerk of the Missouri House of Representatives — a position elected by the House members. At 32, he is one of the nation’s youngest chief clerks. A legislative internship he had while at Missouri State University launched his career in public service. Mr. Crumbliss worked as a legislative assis-tant to the House minority leader from 2000 to 2001 and administrative assistant to the assistant minority leader from 2002 to 2003. He became director of budget policy to the House budget chair in 2003. In 2005, he began working as chief of staff to the speaker pro tem. Mr. Crumbliss was elected by state representatives to serve as their chief clerk and administrator in 2006. A major in the Department of Political Science, Adam was selected as Mis-souri State’s Outstanding Young Alumni Award recipient in 2009 (see interview, online at: http://magazine.missouristate.edu/2010/02/02/outstanding-young-alumni-award/, from the Missouri State Magazine). Jerry Burch, a lobbyist for Missouri State, knew Mr. Crumbliss during his internship in the House. “He was very ambitious, very hard-working,” Burch said. “Adam put his administrative talents and knowledge of political science to excellent use and quickly earned the respect of those in the office.”

http://magazine.missouristate.edu/2010/02/02/outstanding


Fall 2011

by Tim Knapp, Professor, Sociology

During summer, 2011, two sociology majors, Gail O’Connor and Michelle Caplinger, participated in a cross-sector community research internship supervised by sociology faculty members Tim Knapp and Chris-tina Ryder. During their internship, Gail and Michelle worked on five research projects benefiting the commu-nity. One project involved entering and analyzing data for the Springfield One Door program, which is a one-stop office that provides referrals for community members seeking housing, utility, and medical assistance. Another study consisted of analyzing a dataset on the needs of those vulnerably housed. In a third project, the two RAs conducted survey interviews with nearly 400 people who had come to the Kitchen Incorporated Food Pantry. They then entered the answers from those surveys into a quantitative data set. Once data analysis is completed in August, they will write a report and present key findings to local food pantry admin-istrators in September. Other projects included analysis of the Queen City Hustle program for at-risk youth, and a survey of people who have become homeowners through Habitat for Human-ity. By summer’s end the students will have co-authored five research papers. The hands-on experience of helping with on-going studies allowed the interns to deepen their understanding of sociological research methods. Gail mentioned that she “really enjoyed working on the Homeless Prevention project because it was one of the first projects I worked on and it helped me learn how to analyze data efficiently.” Michelle explained that “because

we worked on many aspects of research from data entry, personal interviews, and writing reports, I feel what I did learn was very well rounded.” Being directly involved with people in need also helped Michelle and Gayle develop greater cultural competence. As Gayle put it, “I learned a lot more about the low income popula-tion of Springfield. Before the study, I did not know very much about homelessness, Continued on next page...

Above, Michelle Caplinger and Gail O’Connor; below right, Dr. Tim Knapp and Christina Ryder; below left, Ms. O’Connor, Ms. Caplinger, and a Kitchen Inc. Volunteer

Public Affairs &

Community EngagementTaking it to the Streets: Sociology Students’Community-Engaged Research Internships


Fall 2011

Public Affairs &

Community Engagement...Taking it to the Streets, continued

so it was a great learning experience for me.” Michelle echoed much the same point: “From my hands-on experi-ence with the population studied, I learned a lot more about their specific needs. This showed me that there are many needs or barriers encountered that an individual outside of that group may not have considered.” Both interns also emphasized the unique opportunities that community-engaged learning provides. Gayle described it this way: “I was able to administer the survey and talk one on one with the respondents about their lives. It was very interesting and a perfect way to get to know the community.” Michelle pointed out that “the experience of working with others cannot be obtained any other way. The projects we worked on, such as homeless-ness, also provided a necessary service to the community we live in.” Gail and Michelle will enroll in SOC 599 Sociological Research in the fall to continue research work with faculty, and both RAs enthusiastically endorse internships and other forms of community-engaged learning. Mi-chelle stated: “I would recommend an internship or some type of service learning to all students. There is no way to gain this type of experience in a classroom setting only.” Gayle concurred: “I would definitely recommend this experience to anyone who is serious about sociology and about helping the community. It was a great learning experience for me as a student and as a person. It was a lot of hard work, but it was worth it.” As the sociology program implements its public sociology emphasis, more students will have opportunities to engage in community-engaged learning and public scholarship in the coming years.

What’s this?See the next page!

The Hermann Jaeger exhibit that Bethany Walker and Bela Bodo helped design along with students from His-tory, Art and Design, and Biology is now on tour. This exhibit and its opening was highlighted in the Spring 2011 CHPA Newsletter. During the month of October the Jaeger exhibit was housed at the MSU Exhibition Center, combined with the travelling exhibit on George Husmann, on loan from Hermann, MO. The grand opening was held on October 7 History Professor Dr. Brooks Blevins as the featured speaker.

Jaeger Exhibit Now on Tour


Fall 2011

Public Affairs &

Community EngagementHistory Students, Faculty, & Alumni

Involved in Civil War Sesquicentennial by William Piston, Professor, History

This year marks the beginning of the Civil War Sesquicentennial (2011-2015), 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. Missouri State History Department students, faculty, and alumni have been heavily involved in a variety of commemorative activities, including the recent observation of the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, August 10, 2011 and the reenactment of the battle held August 12-15 as a fundraiser for the Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield Foundation. In addition to contributing their labor to the planning and conduct of the reenactment, current and former history students contributed to both a commemora-tive booklet and a Civil War theme issue of OzarksWatch. The reenactment featured over 3,000 participants portraying Civil war soldiers and civilians. It was witnessed by some 50,000 spectators over a four-day period and raised more than $20,000 for the Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield Foundation, a civilian organization that supports the Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield in Repub-lic, Missouri. Planning for the massive, complex event began more than eighteen months ago and involved many dozens of people. Professor William Piston assisted Frederick W. Goman (M.A. 1986) and others in designing the recreated battle scenarios. Piston also served on a committee that planned special family-oriented educational events that introduced children to games and other activities authentic to the 1860s. Numerous former and current history students participated as soldiers in the battle re-enactment, portrayed civilians of the Civil War era, or volunteered as part of the large support staff that made the event possible. A commemorative booklet produced for the event, “The Battle of Wilson’s Creek 150th Anniversary Reenactment,” features two articles on uniforms and equipment by Michael Price (M.A. 2004), an article on the 20th Iowa Infantry by under-graduate student Anita Roberts, an article on women and the Civil War by graduate student Rachael Regan, and an Order of Battle by Professor Piston. Joshua J. Winborne, history graduate student and graduate assistant with the Ozarks Studies Institute, played an instrumental role in soliciting articles and assembling im-ages for a Civil War theme issue of OzarksWatch. Professor Kris Sutliff, Department of English, is Director of the Insti-tute and edits OzarksWatch. John R. Turner is the managing editor. Continued on next page...

Above, Dr. William Piston; below, Wilson’s Creek Civil War Reenactment

KSMU Missouri State Journal broadcast may be found at http://news.missouristate.edu/2011/08/09/wilsonscreek/

http://news.missouristate.edu/2011/08/09/wilsonscreek


Fall 2011

...Civil War Sesquicentennial, continued

Winborne contributed two articles, “Civil War Novels” and “Civil War Paintings by Andy Thomas.” Former history graduate student John C. Rutherford authored “Springfield’s Civil War Era Forts.” Another article, “Political Turmoil: Missouri’s Road to Secession,” was co-authored by Michael Price (M.A. 2004). Both Rutherford and Price are Local History Reference Associates for the Springfield-Greene County Library District. Professor Piston contributed an ar-ticle entitled “Personalities in Conflict: Political and Military leaders in the Fight for Missouri, 1861.” Since the beginning of 2011 Professor Piston has been involved in a variety of activities related to the Ses-quicentennial. In January he was the keynote speaker at Fort Scott, Kansas, for the commemoration held at the Fort Scott National Historic Site marking the 150 anniversary of the admission of Kansas to the union. In August Pis-ton joined a panel of historians who advised the National Park Service on the creation of a new exhibit on the Civil War in Kansas which will be housed at the Fort Scott National Historic Site. He was the keynote speaker for the 5th Annual Red River Heritage Symposium, held July 23 at Historic Washington State Park in Washington, Arkansas. Piston participated in planning the Trans-Mississippi Theater Virtual Museum, a joint project of the Springfield-Greene-County Library District and the Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield. He also wrote text for the site (see civil-

warvirtualmuseum.org ) and spoke at two events in July promoting it. In addition, Piston gave talks on the Civil War at the Tulsa Community College, Tulsa, Oklahoma, in March; at the Nathan Boone Homestead State Historic Site, Ash Grove, Missouri, in April; to the Knoxville, Tennessee, Civil War Round Table in May; at the Missouri State Archives in Columbia in June; at Fort Leon-ard Wood, Missouri, in July; and at the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis in August.

Photos on this page by Brady Brite, CCHeadliner.com

Public Affairs &

Community Engagement

Sigma Mu Sigma, the Missouri State University Chapter of Alpha Phi Sigma, the National Criminal Justice Honor Society, conducted it’s annual flower sales fund-raiser for the Family Violence Center- Harmony House in Sep-tember. Donations were collected and donors labeled a flower stem to be placed on display during the month of October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness month. The donations will be used to freshen up and fix the room that Sigma

Mu Sigma adopted at the shelter last spring. For further information, the chapter faculty advisor, Ivy Yarckow-Brown can be contacted at [email protected]

Sigma Mu Sigma Raises Domestic

Violence Awareness

civilwarvirtualmuseum.org

civilwarvirtualmuseum.org

CCHeadliner.com

mailto:[email protected]


Fall 2011

During the 2011 Spring Intersession, MSU Anthropology of-ferings included a Field Archaeology course. Directed by Dr. Elizabeth Sobel, the course involved three weeks of archaeological field survey and excavation at the Berry homestead site in Ash Grove, located about 20 miles northwest of Springfield. During the three-week period, 16 students worked all day, Monday through Friday, to uncover the remains of an African-American living area that dates to about 1880 if not earlier. The Field Archaeology course was a service-learning course, conducted in collabora-

tion with the Ozarks Afro-American Heritage Museum, also located in Ash Grove and directed by Moses Berry; the course forwards the educational goals of the museum, while providing students with excellent hands-on archaeological field training. Currently, Father Moses Berry and his wife Magdalena own the Berry property. The Berry family has owned the land for about 130 years, and is one of only two African-American-owned century farms in southwest Missouri. The land was purchased by Moses Berry’s great grandparents, William Berry and Caroline Boone Berry, about 1881. Caroline and her mother Marie had previ-ously been enslaved by members of the Nathan Boone family, also based in Ash Grove.

Excavation conducted by the MSU Field Archaeology students focused in and around an historic well, trash dump, and foundation at the Berry site. The foundation is the remnant of a structure where the original Berry homesteaders may have lived. Before the Berry family arrived, slaves of the former landowners may have lived there. The Berry archaeological project is part of a larger research project, Slavery and Freedom in Ash Grove, MO, di-rected by Dr. Sobel. The project uses archaeology, oral history interviews, and archival research to investigate racial dynamics and African-American socioeconomic strategies in the 19th and 20th centuries in Ash Grove. The archaeological component involves excavation at not only the Berry site, but also the nearby Nathan Boone Homestead State Historic site. The results will help tell the Berry and Boone family stories while contributing to the broader study of American heritage in at least two ways. First, existing studies of African-American heritage in southwest Missouri focus on the early 20th century exodus of most Blacks from the region. However, some African-Americans remained. The Berry Homestead site provides a rare oppor-tunity to learn about the social and economic strategies these people used to stay in the region during the first few decades of emancipation. Second, existing archaeological and historical research on African-Americans focuses on the southeastern and urban US, neglecting places like the Ozarks of SW Missouri. By bringing attention to this area, the Berry project provides a fuller picture of the regional variability characterizing African-American life and racial dynamics in the U.S. Continued on next page...

Field ArchaeologyClass Explores African- American Heritage in Southwest Missouri

By Elizabeth Sobel, Anthropology

Above, Dr. Elizabeth Sobel (kneeling, far right) and students; left, Father Moses Berry and Mrs. Magdalena Berry; below left, student Georgia Lamair excavating

Public Affairs & Community Engagement


Fall 2011

Collaborators include the Ozarks Afro-American Heritage Mu-

seum, as noted above. In addition, the Berry family, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and Dr. Kevin Mickus of the MSU Geology Department collaborate on the proj-ect. The Archaeology of Slavery and Freedom project is well underway, as one season of ex-cavation has been carried out at the Berry site, and several seasons at the Boone site. Three

Applied Anthropology graduate students are conducting Master’s thesis projects based on the Boone site. Moreover, Sobel and students have inventoried three historic cemeteries at these sites. So far, outcomes of this ongoing project include a technical report on the Boone site field work, a technical report on the Boone slave cemetery, an interpretive display for the Ozarks Afro-American Heritage Museum, several interpretive posters for the Nathan Boone Homestead State Historic Site, and various presentations.

...Field Archaeology, continued

Above, student Matt Thieman un-earthed this clay marble at the Berry site; above right, student Grace Gron-niger excavated this glass fist bottle stopper at the Berry site

Public Affairs & Community Engagement

Dr. Mitchell, in his capacity as the Director of the Center for Economic Edu-cation, discussed economic concepts such as scarcity and opportunity cost to a group of 4th graders at Highlandville Elementary School. After listening to Dr. Mitchell dis-cuss these concepts, students were allowed to come to the front of the class one at a time and get a Ziploc bag of 20 M&Ms. Unfortunately, there were not enough bags of M&Ms for each student thus illustrating to the students the concept of scarcity. Dr. Mitchell then discussed the problem of allocation--what are the dif-ferent ways to distribute the scare M&Ms with the group of students. After discuss-ing and exploring the student’s different ideas, Dr. Mitchell passed out a Ziploc bag of 20 M&Ms to the students who previously did not get one.

Candy Sweetens Economics Lesson

Above, Dr. David Mitchell with students at Highlandville Elementary; top right, David Mitchell


Fall 2011

Religious Studies Senior Instructor Lora Hobbs (pictured at left) was featured in the MSU Public Affairs Spotlight in November. Ms. Hobbs began her community involvement by co-leading groups of people to Haiti in 1987. Since 1996, she has led groups to a school in northern Haiti to bring education to the children by teaching,

helping to build schools, and updating educational materials, with focus on the li-braries. She has led groups working with residential care for children with chronic diseases and in orphanages. In 2010, she went Haiti after the earthquake to help build a home and provide food in tent cities. Most recently she was recognized in the Springfield News-Leader for her work as the organizer of Sole Food, a project that collects old shoes to raise money for Friends Against Hunger where she also packages food for the needy. In 2008 Ms. Hobbs went with a group of physical and occupational therapists to Tanzania to assess individual needs and distribute mobility aids to almost 200 adults and children. She works to not only provide necessities, such as education and food, to others, but she also brings awareness to the community about these pressing issues and organizes groups to take part in providing relief to those who need it.

Public Affairs Spotlights Lora Hobbs

Public Affairs &

Cultural CompetenceReligious Studies Alumnus Describes Peace Corps Experiences

Religious Studies alumnus Laura Kay Pearson (BA, spring 2011) began her adventure as the Youth Develop-ment Coordinator, Peace Corps, in Cameroon in September. In addition to studying religions, Ms. Pearson, a Spring-field native, minored in French as part of her preparation for her dream of joining the Peace Corps and traveling to Africa (French and English are the two official languages in Cameroon). In an e-mail to the department, Ms. Pearson described her Peace Corps training and her impressions of Cameroon: “This is a short email update to let you all know that PC Training is going great! I’m three weeks into my life my Bafia, and my confidence improves daily. The beauty and complexity of Cameroon unfolds around me and my fellow trainees at the most unexpected moments. In many ways, Cameroon is precisely what I expected: beautiful blue skies, torrential down-pours, smiling children, loud open-air markets, unpredictable electricity, and mud galore! Our technical training is becoming more and more interesting as we all gain a better grasp on the current state of Youth Development in Cameroon. Above all I’m thrilled to be assigned a community in a few weeks and get to go visit my site in November. Always thinking of home and the incredible opportunities to follow.” Ms. Pearson encourages everyone to read her blog at http://totheearthsend.blogspot.com/

http://totheearthsend.blogspot.com

http://totheearthsend.blogspot.com


Fall 2011

Public Affairs &

Cultural Competence

Dr. Bill Wedenoja (Anthropology) made his 18th trip to Bluefields, Jamaica, in May and June. The purpose of this visit was to study the records of the Bluefields Peoples Community Association or BPCA, a successful community organization, as a case study in develop-ment. Wedenoja has been working with the BPCA and another local organization, the Bluefields Bay Fisher’s

Society, for the past ten years. Anthropology graduate student Carly Johnson accompanied Wedenoja and stayed on for the summer, living with a family and working as an intern with the fisher’s society. Dr. Dan Beckman from Biol-ogy and Dr. Bob Pavlowsky from Geography, along with four graduate students, were in Bluefields at the same time, doing a study of the ecology of the bay, which recently became a protected area. Dr. Jamaine Abidogun from History joined us, focusing her interest on Belmont Academy, a new and innovative high school, which she will compare with schools in Ghana and Nigeria.

One of the highlights of the Bluefields Project is interdisciplinary exchange and collaboration. The project resumes over winter break, when Wedenoja and Dr. David Byers from Anthropology will be involved in an archaeology proj-ect along with Binghamton University, the University of the West Indies, and Northern Caribbean University. Beckman and Pavlowsky will be back to continue their research on bay ecology. And Johnson will be there for spring semester, to do an environmental assessment of the area, focusing on the perceptions of local residents. Much of their research has been funded by the Latin American Caribbean

and Hispanic Studies initiative, funded by the Provost’s Office and directed by Dr. John Chuchiak (History). Two master’s theses have come out of Bluefields thus far, and six more are underway. These research projects focus on practical matters such as tourism, markets and water quality, which will be of benefit to our sponsors, the BPCA, the fishers, the Bureau of Fisheries, and the Jamaican National Heritage Trust.

Top, the Summer 2011 Blue-fields Research Team (Dr. Bill Wedenoja is standing third from left); above, Dr. Abidogun and Carly Johnson examining reports in the library of the Planning Institute, Kingston Jamaica; below right, Carly Johnson at work at the Blue-fields Bay Fisher’s Society

Community Engagement & Cultural Competence in

Bluefields, Jamaica


Fall 2011

Public Affairs is:

Cultural Competence

By Jamaine Abidogun

This past June I had the privilege to join the Mis-souri State University research group at Bluefields, Jamaica. Through a generous grant from MSU’s Latin American, Caribbean and Hispanic Studies Initiative I was able to conduct fieldwork at Belmont Academy Secondary School with a focus on how an Afrocentric curriculum might ad-dress gendered differences within the curriculum. During my stay in Bluefields I was impressed by the collaborative research efforts of Dr. Bill Wedenoja, An-thropology, Dr. Bob Pavlowsky, Geography and Dr. Dan Beckman, Biology and their team of graduate students. Dr. Wedenoja’s years of field work in Jamaica provided essen-tial contacts in Jamaica to support and expand each of our research agendas. The team’s work with the Bluefields People’s Community Association and Bluefields Bay Fishermen’s Friendly Society to document and support development of a sustainable fish reserve demonstrated how interdisciplinary research may produce knowledge and simultaneously contribute to the well-being of the larger community. Without reservation I can say all participants were generous with their resources and knowledge both within the team and within the Jamaican community. Collaboration with Jamaican experts and community leaders was a wel-come norm within this research experience. Thanks to Jamaican and MSU colleagues my research experience in Jamaica was a productive and satisfying experience.

Jamaine Abidogun Joins Fieldwork in Jamaica

Dr. Abidogun conversing with Ms. Joy Baker-Campbell, Principal of the Bluefields Early Childhood Institute, which has been receiving financial support from the Missouri State Anthropology Club

David Romano Presents Talk at CHPA Research Forum

Dr. David Romano (pictured at left), Associate Professor of Political Science, pre-sented a lecture on “Female Peshmerga: Freedom Fighters or Token Symbols?” in October as part of the CHPA Research Forum. Dr. Romano, author of The Kurdish Nationalist Move-ment (2006), discussed how many Kurdish political parties incorporate women into their armed movements, while others do not. His research explores the politics of incorporating women into the armed “national liberation movement,” and the link between national liberation and gender liberation. Dr. Romano’s research interests include Nationalism, social movements, politicized Islam, Middle-East and Mediterranean politics, and globalization and development issues.


Fall 2011

Public Affairs &

Cultural Competency

College of Humanities & Public Affairs

Faculty Achievements Dr. Frank Einhellig, Interim Provost, announced in the 6 October 2011 Provost Commu-niqué the appointment of Dr. John Chuchiak (pictured at left), Professor, Department of History, to the position of Director of the Honors College. Dr. Chuchiak will oversee the Honors Pro-gram, the publication of LOGOS and help advise honors students at Missouri State University, among other duties. According to Dr. Einhellig, Dr. Chuchiak brings outstanding credentials to this position with a strong record of involvement with honors programs and directing student research and engagement experiences. Dr. Chuchiak assumed these duties effective October 1, 2011, and will report directly to the Provost.

John Chuchiak Appointed Head of MSU Honors College

Two MSU students traveling to China to study languages and participate in the new exchange program organized by Dr. Dennis Hickey, Director of the Graduate Program in Global Studies and Political Science Professor, met up with MSU Master of Global Studies alum-nus Nick Shadid, who is now in his first semester as a Ph.D. students at People’s University. Tessa Bradford, MGS student, studied Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan this summer after receiving a Taiwan-United State Sister Relations Alliance (TUSA) Ambassador summer scholarship. She and Aaron Kruse are some of the first students to participate in the exchange program that Dr. Hickey set up between the MGS program and the Contemporary China Studies Program of the School of International Studies at Ren-min (People’s) University of China in Beijing, People’s Republic of China. The previous summer, 2010, Mr. Kruse journeyed to Taiwan to participate in the TUSA program and improve his Chinese language skills. The photograph at right shows the three Missouri students along with Professor Li Qingsi, Director of the the Contemporary China Studies Program of the School of International Studies at Renmin (People’s) University of China in Beijing, People’s Republic of China, at a welcome get-together for the students from Missouri, Europe, and China.

Students Travel to China to Study Languages, Global Studies

MSU students shown are, in front row far right, Tessa Bradford; back row center, Nick Shadid, and right, Aaron Kruse, with other international students and Professor Li Qingsi


Fall 2011

Brooks Blevins (pictured at left), Noel Boyd Associate Professor of Ozarks Stud-ies, was named the 2011 recipient of the Arkansiana Nonfiction Award. The award, given every other year by the Arkansas Library Association, was presented to Blevins for his 2009 book, Arkansas/Arkansaw: How Bear Hunters, Hillbillies, and Good Ol’ Boys Defined a State. The Arkansiana Award marks the third book award for Arkansas/Arkansaw, which was also named a Choice Academic Title for 2010. Blevins’s next book, Ghost of the Ozarks: Mur-der and Memory in the Upland South, will be released by the University of Illinois Press in March 2012.

Brooks Blevins Receives Nonfiction Award

Bethany Walker Named Fellow at Mamluk Research Center In 2011 the University of Bonn in Germany named Bethany Walker (pictured at right), of the History Department, a Fellow of its newly founded Mamluk research center, the Annemarie Schimmel Kolleg for the History and Society during the Mamluk Era (1250-1517). The project, funded by the German Research Council for an initial 3 million Euro, will run for at least four years. The purpose of the project is to establish Eu-rope’s first research center for Mamluk Studies, bringing to one place some of the world’s leading Mamluk scholars. Walker was invited to join the Bonn project as a member of its first cohort of visiting scholars, who will be collaborating in research on the Mamluk Em-pire in its global context. She will be at the University of Bonn for the full calendar year 2012 working on her next monograph, Human Migration in Late Medieval Syria. For more information about the Annemarie Schimmel Kolleg, see the project website at: http://www.ika.uni-bonn.de/institut-fuer-orient-und-asienwissenschaften/mamlukenkolleg.


Faculty Achievements

Dr. Gabriel Ondetti (pictured at right), Associate Professor of Political Science, was recently awarded a Fulbright research grant to do field research in Bolivia. He will be making two three-month visits to the country, one in the summer of 2012 and another in the fall of 2013, to work on his project, “The Morales Government and Redistributive Change in Bolivia.”

Gabriel Ondetti Awarded Fulbrightto Study in Bolivia

http://www.ika.uni-bonn.de/institut-fuer-orient-und-asienwissenschaften/mamlukenkolleg

http://www.ika.uni-bonn.de/institut-fuer-orient-und-asienwissenschaften/mamlukenkolleg


Fall 2011

Dr. Aida Hass, Assistant Professor in Criminology, along with W.J. Chambliss, recently published her book, Criminology: Connecting Theory, Research and Practice. Dr. Hass (pictured at right), earned her Ph.D. at George Washington University and teaches undergraduate (CRM 320, 335, 370) and graduate courses (CRM 770) in the department. Her research interests include an examination of the social organization of the modern penal institution, with a focus on the impact of the changing dynamics of sentenc-ing and corrections on the structural operation and interaction between inmates, correc-tional officers and prison functions. She is also interested in studying the effect of prisoner reentry programs on successful integration of offenders into the community after a period of extended incarceration, with a specific focus on faith-based initiatives which center on collaborative efforts at bridging the gap in community resources available to offenders.

Aida Hass Publishes Criminology Book


Faculty Achievements

News from CHPA

Missouri Archaeology Societyby Christina Daniel

MAS Annual Meeting The 2011 Annual Meeting of the Missouri Archaeology Society was held on April 8–10 at the University Plaza Hotel in Springfield. The 2011 meeting featured 9 oral presentations by professional archaeologists, 3 oral presentations by UMSL students, and 5 poster presentations by 12 MSU students. The Koch banquet lecture was Documenting Geno-cide, Assisting our Veterans—presented by Dr. Michael K. Trimble, Director of the Department of Defense’s Mandatory Center of Expertise for the Curation and Management of Archaeological Collections, and Chief of the Curation and Archives Analysis Branch, St. Louis District, Army Corps of Engineers. In addition to the presentations and the banquet, attendees enjoyed a reception, book sales and silent auction, exhibits, and conversing with other attendees. On Sunday afternoon, attendees were also treated to an atlatl demonstration by MSU graduate student David Cain at Glass Field.

The Pilot Archaeological Survey Training Program for Missouri In May and July 2011, the MAS completed the two-year statewide Pilot Archaeological Survey Training Pro-gram. The program was funded for 2010 and 2011 by a grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. It provided the opportunity for participants to gain hands-on experience in archaeology, with an emphasis on preserving archaeological resources or at least the information they may contain. The program seeks to train individuals in the importance of locating and pre-serving Missouri’s Archaeological Resources, to discourage unsupervised looting and weekend digs, and to encourage re-sponsible and ethical collecting. Forty-six members of the public attended, including several students from MSU, OTC, and UMKC. The MAS has submitted a grant application to MoDNR to continue the program during the summers of 2012 and 2013. Continued on next page...


Fall 2011

News from CHPA

Missouri Archaeology Society...MAS News, continuedMSU Students and Cataloging Two MSU students received stipends to catalog MAS publications and other archaeologi-cal references currently housed in the Special Collections and Archives at Meyer Library. This collection has over 11,000 volumes and the cataloging project will increase functionality and accessibility for researchers from the campus and larger community.

The Civil War in Missouri The Civil War in Missouri was the 2011 Archaeology Month poster theme (poster is pictured below). The front of the poster illustrates the Charge of General Fremont’s Bodyguard through Springfield, Missouri, in 1861. The back of the poster features a list of Civil War battles in Missouri and depicts some of the gear that infantry soldiers were equipped with during the War. The Society distributed over 8,000 posters to public schools, historical societies, state parks, and other public insti-tutions, as well as interested individuals.

MAS 2011 Fall Symposium The Fall Symposium was held on September 16–18 at the Bates County Museum and Historical Society in Butler, Missouri (pictured, below right, are symposium attendees on the steps of the Bates County History Mu-seum). The theme of the fall symposium also was the Civil War in Missouri. The Symposium featured several pre-sentations by vari-ous professional and avocational historians and archaeologists, a

hayride tour to the Poplar Heights Living History Farm, and a tour of the Battle of Island Mounds site, where the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry was first engaged in combat in the Trans-Mississippi theater. The professional speakers included Dr. Kevin Evans from the MSU Geography, Geology & Planning Department and Dr. Jeremy Neely, an instructor in the CHPA History Department. Continued on next page...

Above, the Summer Survey Program team


Fall 2011

...MAS News, continuedMemberships In February, 10 MSU students received free memberships to the Missouri Archaeological Society and 10 students received free registration fees to the annual spring meeting. These memberships and fees were provided by two members of the local Ozarks Chapter.

Technical Writing Program Since 2006, MAS has reached out to other MSU degree programs such as the Technical Writing Program directed by Dr. Kris Sutliff. This year, four interns from that program are assisting with various publications for the So-ciety: The MAS Quarterly, the state journal The Missouri Archaeologist, new book publications, promotional materials, the MAS website, and other projects. This collaboration has provided students with the opportunity to gain experience in the technical communications field and assists them in building their professional portfolios.

News from CHPA

Department ofCriminology and Criminal Justice

The Department of Criminology and Criminal Jus-tice, created in July 2011, welcomes our new Depart-ment Head, Dr. Craig Hemmens, and a new faculty member, Dr. Mary Stohr. Dr. Hemmens hails from Chapel Hill, NC, and previously worked for fifteen years at Boise State

University as a Professor, Department Chair, and Honors College Director. His academic interests include Criminal Law and Pro-

cedure, and the Supreme Court. Among his many accomplishments, Dr. Hemmens has published twenty books and over one-hundred articles, and was chosen as the 2012–2013 President of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. He is also a fan of Bruce Springsteen - what more could we ask? Dr. Mary Stohr, from Yakima, WA, also worked at Boise State University (eighteen years), as well as three years at New Mexico State University. She has published five books and over seventy publications, and her academic interests include Criminal Justice, Corrections Management, Ethics, and Subcultures.

CCJ WelcomesNew Head,

Faculty Member

Left, CCJ Department Head Dr. Craig Hemmens; right, new CCJ Professor Dr. Mary Stohr


Fall 2011

News from CHPA

CCJCCJ Teams Up With

MSU Theatre Department forMurder Mystery Performance

by Ivy Yarckow-Brown

In mid-October 2011, the officers of Sigma Mu Sigma, the Missouri State Universi-ty Chapter of Alpha Phi Sigma, the National Criminal Justice Honor Society, joined efforts with the Theatre Department. This collaborative project culminated in a Murder Mystery performance to the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) conference in Branson, MO. Three officers, Oliver Hoedel, Emily Rader and Casey Cansler, along with their faculty advisor, Ms. Ivy Yarckow-Brown (pictured, above right), participated in roles for the skit, providing academic sup-port, and assisted in a variety of other roles. Dr. Robert Willen-brink from the Theatre department wrote the play, and oversaw the auditions and all practices for this performance. This inter-disciplinary effort was enjoyed by all of the participants, who are now eager to take part in repeat performances. Who knows . . . maybe making an appearance near you? Dr. Robert Willenbrink, Head, Department of Theatre and Dance at MSU, commended Ms. Yarckow-Brown and the students in an e-mail to Dr. Craig Hemmens, CCJ Department Head: “Good Morning! I wanted to take a minute to praise the work of one of your faculty and a couple of graduate students in you depart-ment. Over the past few weeks Ivy Yarckow-Brown and I have been collaborating on an interdisciplinary Project, Mystery in Springfield. Sponsored by The Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences at the University of Missouri this was multidisciplinary educational semi-nar geared toward improving communication between police, medical examiners/coroners, forensic laboratory personnel and attorneys when confronted with problematic forensic cases. “Our part in the process was the writing, staging and presenting a Mystery crime drama (Mystery in Springfield) that serves as the centerpiece of the conference. The response to the piece was overwhelmingly positive! Medical exam-iners, police and lab personnel not only enjoyed the piece but spent another 45 minutes viewing the ‘crime scene’ and investigating our mystery. This success would not have been possible without the expertise and collaboration of Ivy and two Grad students, Casey Cansler and Oliver Hoedel. Casey gave a wonderful job as a forensic detective and Ivy was in-strumental in ensuring that all of the elements of the mystery were technically correct. In short, we could not have done this project without the outstanding contributions of this group. I also want to praise theatre students, Adam Murphy, Tyler Wishall, Natalie Dickter and Carlie Dillinger. All students donated their time and talent to this most successful collaboration. This project was interdisciplinary cooperation at its finest. The group is already talking to us about repeat-ing the process with a different scenario. We plan to present the drama again in the spring at the student conference, and I hope you will be able to join us. Kudos again to Ivy, Casey and Oliver on an outstanding job.”

Members of Sigma Mu Sigma joined with the MSU Theatre Department for a Murder Mystery performance at the NAME conference in Branson.


Fall 2011

SAVE THE DATE: The 4th Annual Missouri State University Criminol-ogy and Criminal Justice Conference will be held from 8:00 a.m.– 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 7, 2012, on the third floor of Plaster Student Union. For further information, the conference coordinator, Ivy Yarckow-Brown, can be contacted at [email protected]

CCJ Conference in Spring 2012

News from CHPA

Economics The Economics Department is pleased to announce the addition of a new faculty member, Mr. Scott Bloom (pictured at right), Instructor of Economics. Mr. Bloom has published eleven books in Economics and supplement volumes to college textbooks. Originally from St. Louis, MO, Mr. Bloom spent sixteen years at North Dakota State University, as well as teaching at St. Louis Community College, Lindenwood University, and Blackburn College. His academic interests include Macroeconomics, Monetary Theory, and Game Theory.

Scott Bloom JoinsEconomics Department

News from CHPA

History History Welcomes New Department Head and

Faculty Members The History Department welcomes new Department Head, Dr. Kath-leen Kennedy (pictured at left). From Keeseville, NY, Dr. Kennedy completed her Ph.D. at University of California-Irvine, and her academic interests include U.S. Women’s History, History of Violence and Slavery, Lesbian/Gay History, and Popular Culture. She is the author of Disloyal Mothers, Scurrilous Citizens: Gender and the First World War, as well as several articles in Feminist Theory and U.S. Women’s History, and the co-editor of Athen’s Daughters: Television’s New Woman Warrior and Sexual Borderlords. Her previous experiences were at Western Washington University (fifteen years) and three years at the University of Texas-Dallas. Her current projects focus on gendered and racial constructions of violence in early America and popular culture.

News from CHPA

CCJ



Fall 2011

New faculty member Dr. Angela Hornsby-Gutting (Ph.D. University of North Carolina) is a specialist in African-American History and the author of Black Manhood and Com-munity Building in North Carolina, 1900–1930. She is currently working on a project that examines courtship rituals and romantic love among African-Americans during the Jim Crow era. Dr. Hornsby-Gutting (pictured at right) comes to us from the University of Mississippi.

She has also worked with several oral history projects in North Carolina that sought to invest young African-Americans in studying their family histories and that used oral history to improve com-munication gaps between Latino and African-American Americans living in East Durham.

...New History Department Members, continued

The Department has hired Dr. Edward Gutting (Ph.D. Princeton) as a visiting professor. He is currently teaching World History. Dr. Gutting (pictured at left) is a specialist of Ancient Rome and his current scholar-ship focuses on the Aenied. Dr. Gutting also comes to us from the University of Mississippi.

This fall Bethany Walker’s monograph Jordan in the Late Middle Ages: Transforma-tion of the Mamluk Frontier was published by the Middle East Documentation Center of the University of Chicago. The work is the first Mamluk provincial study to combine extensive documentary with archaeological research. The book explores the trans-formation of the Mamluk state from the perspective of the Jordanian frontier, considering the actions of local people in molding both the state and their own societies in the post-plague era. It gives a provincial and tribal perspective on imperial decline, reform, and rebirth that sheds new light on the mechanisms of socio-political and economic change through the experiences of ordinary people living on the “margins” of empire.

Bethany Walker Publishes Book on Jordan

Dr. Robert Miller (pictured at right), Professor of History, is scheduled to be a featured speaker at a symposium celebrating the centennial of folk

singer Woody Guthrie’s birth entitled, “Different Shades of Red.” Dr. Miller is to be part of a panel entitled, “A Culture of Protest,” which will take place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, March 9–11, 2012. This event is a collaborative effort between the Smithsonian Institution, the Grammy Museum, the University of Tulsa, New York University, the University of Southern California, and Pennsylvania State University.

Robert Miller to Present atWoody Guthrie Symposium

News from CHPA

History


Fall 2011

News from CHPA

History

Carey Kelley, a per-course faculty mem-ber, and David Hill (pictured at right, top), a graduate student, each presented papers

at the Mid-America Conference in Stillwater, Oklahoma, this month. Carey’s paper was based on one she wrote with Dr. Holly Baggett; David has been working with Dr. Eric Nelson and Dr. John Chuchiak.

Dr. Bill Piston (pictured at right, center) was invited to speak at the 2011 Missouri Literary Festival along with several nationally known authors. The theme this year was on the Civil War, and Dr. Piston spoke about the process of writing military history and how he reconstructed the Battle of Wilson Creek for his book, The Battle of Wilson Creek.

In September, Dr. Bela Bodo (pictured at right, bottom) was invited to participate in a workshop and present a paper entitled, “Red and White Terrors in Hungary, 1919-1920” at the Centre for War Studies at the University College Dublin, located in Dublin, Ireland.

Above, Dr. Holly Baggett, seated third from right, and students at the Missouri Library Conference; at right, Dr. Baggett

Students on MO Library Conference

Panel In October, Dr. Holly Baggett, Associate Professor of History, took several students to the Missouri Library Conference in Kansas City, MO, where they participated on a panel with members of the Ozark Lesbian and Gay Oral History Project. This is part of an ongoing project by Dr. Baggett and other members of OLGA to collect oral histories of Springfield’s lesbian and gay community. By participating in this project, students learn oral history skills and help the library gather important historical documents for scholars.

More News in History

The Missouri State University Military Science/ROTC program will celebrate its 60th Anniversary in 2012. We invite all Bear Battalion alumni

to contact the Department ([email protected]) to share ideas, memories, updates, etc. to help us plan events for our anniversary.

Calling AllBear Battalion Alumni!

News from CHPA

Military Science

ROTC



Fall 2011

Welcome Home to LTC Troy Wisdom

The Bear Battalion had many mixed emotions over the summer. We said goodbye to LTC Kirby Hanson upon his retirement to a teaching position at Ft. Leavenworth, KS. We wish all the very best for him and Mrs. Kelly Hanson. His leaving, however, brought home Bear Battalion Alumnus LTC Troy Wisdom.

LTC Wisdom (pictured above, left) grew up in Poplar Bluff, MO, and is a graduate of Mis-souri State University, where he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. He also earned

a Master’s degree in Information Technology from Webster University. He entered the U.S. Army in Jan. 1992. His assignments have included Rifle Platoon Leader and Executive Officer for A Co, 1/505 Parachute Infantry Regiment at Fort Bragg, N.C. After completion of the Signal Corps Qualification course, he was assigned as the Network Controller and Battle Captain for 35th Signal Brigade, then Assistant S-3 for 50th Signal Battalion, Ft. Bragg, N.C. Following the Advanced Course, he was assigned as the Bri-gade S-6 for 12th Aviation Brigade, Wiesbaden, Germany, and then moved to Darmstadt, Germany to take Command of Charlie Company, 32d Signal Battalion. Upon returning to the U.S., LTC Wisdom was assigned to 1st Army where he became the Brigade S-6 for 3-87th TS at Camp Shelby, MS. Following the completion of Command and General Staff College, he was sent back to Fort Bragg, NC. to become the Brigade S-6 for 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, prior to joining the 82nd Division’s MFCC as the C4ISR Signal Planner. He followed with 27 months as Commander of the Division NSC and tour to OEF, and then an assign-ment to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) at Brussels, Belgium, where LTC Wisdom worked on numerous projects at the Consultation, Command and Control Agency.

LTC Wisdom’s military schooling includes the Infantry Officer Basic Course, Ranger School, Infantry Mortar Leaders Course, Airborne School, Jumpmaster Course, Signal Branch Qualification Course, Signal Officer Advance Course, Combined Arms and Services Staff School (CAS3), the COMSEC Custodian Course, and Command and General Staff College.

His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (2 OLC), the Joint Service Commenda-tion Medal, the Army Commendation Medal (2 OLC), the Army Achievement Medal (3 OLC), the Kosovo Campaign Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Amy Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal (Kosovo), the Afghani-stan Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Ranger Tab, Master Parachutist Badge, Expert Infantryman badge, German Parachutist Badge, German Marksmanship badge (gold), and the German PT badge.

LTC Wisdom is married to Sharlene Wisdom, and they have two children; son Tyler, age 14, and daughter Courtney, age 10.

News from CHPA

Military Science

ROTC

MSU Military Science/ROTC is also pleased to welcome SFC (Ret.) Phillip Roberson (pictured at right). SFC Roberson grew up in Bethel, NC, and recently retired from the Army after nearly 22 years of service as an 11B Infantry Soldier. He is a subject matter expert on map reading, land navigation, rifle marks-manship, and drill and ceremony, with operational experience from Iraq. He has most recently served for the last few years as a Military Science Instructor for soon-to-be Army Officers. His travels have taken him to thirteen different countries and he has lived abroad in Germany for a total of ten years.

Welcome to New Cadre SFC (Ret.) Pillip Roberson


Fall 2011

As part of the Fall 2011 MSU Workshop for Critical Inquiry in the Humanities and Social Sciences Colloquium Series, Dr. Samuel Moyn presented a talk on Thursday, 20 October, on “The Politics of Individual Rights: Claude Lefort Versus Marcel Gauchet.” Professor Moyn, a Professor of History at Columbia University and co-director of the New York area Consortium for Intellectual and Cultural History, works primarily on Modern European intellectual history, with special interests in France and Germany. The colloquium series is presented by Dr. Ralph Shain, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, and Dr. Cigdem Cidam, Assistant Professor of Political Science, and is co-sponsored by the Thomas H. and Josephine Baird Memorial Fund of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, the College of Humanities and Public Affairs, and the Department of Political Science.

News from CHPA

PhilosophySamuel Moyn Delivers Talk for

Critical Inquiry Workshop

Dr. Gabriel Ondetti, Associate Professor of Political Science, and Dr. Indira Palacios-Valladares, Political Science Instructor, presented a talk by Dr. Howard Campbell (pictured at left), Professor of Anthropology at the University of Texas at El Paso, on 6 October, on “Drug-Related Violence and the Future of Mexico.” Dr. Campbell is the author of Drug War Zone: Frontline Dispatches from the Streets of El Paso and Juárez (2009), as well as other books including Mexican Memoir: A Personal Account of Anthropology and Radical Politics in Oaxaca (2001). The lecture was sponsored by the Department of Political Science and the Latin American, Caribbean and Hispanic Studies Program.

Professor Discusses Drug & Violence in Mexico

News from CHPA

Political Science

Dr. Indira Palacios-Valladares, Political Science Instructor, and Dr. Brian Calfano, Associate Professor in Political Science, traveled to Taiwan on an invitation by the

Taiwanese government and met with non-government organizations, think tanks, religious organizations, and different government organizations. The picture, above, was taken after meeting with Chih-kung Liu, Deputy Secretary-General, of the National Security Council. Dr. Palacios-Valladares is second from left; Dr. Calfano is on her left.

Political Science Faculty Invited to

Taiwan


Fall 2011

The PLS 355 Emergencies, Disasters and Catastrophes class is studying the provision of public safety services from emergencies through disasters to ca-tastrophes. In order to provide the students with some exposure to the practitioner side of providing those services the class takes several field trips around the area or has guest speakers in class. Each trip or guest speaker focuses on a different discipline within public safety. This is with the cooperation of our partnering

agencies: Springfield Police and Fire Departments, St John’s EMS, Springfield/Greene County 9-1-1 and the Springfield/Greene County Office of Emergency Management.

Students are given the opportunity to get a glimpse into the provision of the service by talking to people doing the job every day and mixing that with the managerial and administra-tive perspectives provided in the classroom. Some of the activities include touring a fire station, the Springfield 9-1-1- Center and the Emergency Operations Center, and discussing response challenges of having a large hospital twisted when hit by an EF-5 tornado.

News from CHPA

Political Science

PLS 355 Takes to

the Streets

From top: touring the Spring-field 9-1-1 Center; students reviewing the maps of the impact area of the Emergen-cy Operations Center; touring Fire Station #1; overlooking one of the destroyed buildings and neighborhoods

On March 29, 2011, Dr. Dennis Hickey, Director, Graduate Program in Global Studies and The James F. Morris Professor of Political Science Political Science Depart-ment, was flown to Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China, by Ming Chuan University’s Graduate School of International Affairs, to serve as the keynote speaker at the 2011 Asia-Pacific Regional Integration and Development in a Globalized World Academic Conference. The image (at left) shows him delivering his speech, “The Republic of China: 100 Years in the Global Community,” on April 1, 2011.

Dennis Hickey Keynote Speaker in Taiwan


Fall 2011

The Department of Religious Studies welcomes visiting instructor James Broucek, A.B.D. Florida State University. Mr. Broucek (pictured at left) specializes in Islam, especial-ly the History of Islam, Religious Ethics, and Modern Islamic Political Thought. Bring-ing teaching experience from FSU, Mr. Broucek also has published articles in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought and presented papers a the Annual Society for Muslim Ethics, as well as the Southeast Regional Academy of American Religion.

Earlier this semester, Mr. Broucek was interviewed for Missouri State Uni-versity’s YouTube channel, which can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z37kDyUQSew

Religious Studies Department WelcomesIslamicist James Broucek

Religious Studies MA Alumnus Wins Thesis of the Year

Linda Covey (pictured at right), M.A. in Religious Studies at MSU, won the Graduate College’s Distinguished Thesis Award for her thesis, “Diné Becoming Bahá’í: Through the Lens of Ancient Prophecies,” accord-ing to Pawan Kahol, Interim Dean of the Graduate College and recom-mended by the Graduate Scholarship Committtee of the Graduate College. A copy of Ms. Covey’s thesis is now housed in the National Bahá’í Archives’ Theses/Dissertation Collection. The archives, formally established by the Chicago Bahá’í community’s National Spiritual Assembly in 1922 and is located in Wilmette, Illinois, collects, arranges, and preserves archival material such as historical docu-ments, records, letters, manuscripts, photographs, and books to provide research and reference services to institutions, scholars and historians. National Bahá’í Archivist Lewis Walker commented that Ms Covey’s thesis “should prove to be of immense value, both to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and to future researchers in general. Thank you for the crucial assistance which you and your colleagues at Missouri State doubtless gave Linda on this significant project. We are all in your debt.” Ms. Covey’s thesis has also been accepted into the Native American Baha’i Institute on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. Ms. Covey has presented her research at various conferences on the topic of Native American Bahá’í, in par-ticular the Eighth Native American Symposium at Southeastern Oklahoma State University in 2009, as well as present-ing on other topics in North America and China. Ms. Covey received her BS in Psychology in 1986 with a minor in Journalism, and her BA in Religious Stud-ies with an Anthropology minor that same year. In 2011 she graduated with an MA in Religious Studies and has been an Instructor of Psychology in the MSU China program, Dalian, China since 2009.

News from CHPA

Religious Studies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z37kDyUQSew

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z37kDyUQSew


Fall 2011

News from CHPA

Religious Studies

Dr. Stephen C. Berkwitz, Professor of Religious Studies at MSU, is on a fellowship to research in Germany for this academic year. While his research findings will be included in a later CHPA Newsletter, Dr. Berkwitz sent us this update about his presentation in the United Kingdom 26 October: Stephen C. Berkwitz (pictured at left and below, second from left) deliv-ered three invited lectures while visiting the United Kingdom in October 2011 during his research leave in Germany. He spoke on “Moralism and Colonial-ism in Sinhala Buddhist Poetry” at the University of Oxford to the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies. He presented a second paper called “Poetry and Eroticism in a Sinhala Buddhist Idiom” at the School of Oriental and Afri-can Studies, University of London, and at Bristol University’s Department of Theology and Religious Studies. While he was in London, Berkwitz also consulted some Sinhala palm leaf manuscripts at the British Library.

Steve Berkwitz Abandons Germany (briefly) to Present in the UK

Professor Darren Dochuk (pictured above with his book, left), Purdue University Department of History, spoke to a standing-room-only crowd on Monday, 7 November, on “From Bible Belt to Sun Belt: Plain-Folk

Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism.” The talk was based on Dr. Dochuk’s recent book of the same name, which tracks the emergence of evangeli-cal politics from the margins of the Depression-era “Bible Belt” South into the mainstream of California’s “Sunbelt” society, and how this transplanted southern evangelicalism helped galvanize Ronald Reagan’s conservative coalition.

The free, public lecture was sponsored by the Ozarks Studies Institute, the College of Humanities and Public Affairs, the Provost’s Office, and the Department of Religious Studies.

Religion & Politics Mix

in PublicLecture


Fall 2011

News from CHPA

Religious Studies

Three Religious Studies

StudentsPublish inLOGOS

Three Religious Studies students, Erika Blair, Evan Pen-nington, and Sarah Riccardi, have papers published in the Fall 2011 edition of LOGOS: A Journal of Undergraduate Research. The pub-lication, sponsored by the Missouri State Honors College, is open to submissions from all undergraduate students at the University and papers are chosen by a blind, peer-review process of students and faculty. “Them’s Fightin’ Words: A Brief Look at New Atheism in America,” by Erika Blair, ex-amines the “New Atheist Movement” as espoused by Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and Richard Dawkins in an interview by Gary Wolf in Wired magazine. Ms. Blair, a Religious Studies major with minors in Sociology and Anthropology, will graduate this semester and plans to continue studying religions in graduate school. Evan Pennington’s LOGOS paper, “Upheaval and the Unutterable: A Comparative Analysis of Post-Exilic and Post-Holocaust Jewish Poetry,” previously won an award at the Central States Regional Meeting of the Society of Biblical Litera-ture in St. Louis last spring for best Theta Alpha Kappa (the national Religious Studies honor society) paper. Mr. Pennington is an Education major (English) with a minor in Religious Studies, and plans to teach English at the high school level. Sarah Riccardi, B.A. in Religious Studies and a minor in Antiquities, is currently in the Religious Studies M.A. pro-gram. Ms. Riccardi, who is also the President of MSU’s Graduate Student Council, researched the controversial choir system of eighteenth-century Moravians, a classification of separation based on age, gender, and social standing, in her paper, “From an Embryo to God’s Acre: A Turnerian Examination of Life in the Moravian Choir System.” To find out more about LOGOS or to request copies, please contact the editors at [email protected] or visit http://www.missouristate.edu/logos/.

Clockwise from above: Erika Blair with her two daugh-ters, Emma and Paige; Sarah Riccardi; Evan Pen-nington

Students in Dr. Lisa Hall’s Introduction to Society courses will demonstrate their mastery of sociology funda-mentals and their awareness of community services in a social science fair. All MSU students, faculty, staff and guests are invited to the Strong Hall Atrium Wednesday, November 30, through Wednesday, December 7, to peruse an eclectic display of students’ projects. Findings from a variety of social experiments, surveys, interviews and fieldwork will be featured, along with profiles of local service agencies. Fascinating topics range from technology’s impact on music to the lived-experience of changed identity. The student-researchers will be present to discuss their projects and answer questions.

Sociology Students Host Fair in Early December


http://www.missouristate.edu/logos


Fall 2011

The Department of Sociology and Anthropology wel-comes two new faculty members: Dr. Lisa Hall and Dr. Darrell Lynch, both Instructors in the department. Dr. Hall (pictured above, left) completed her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Kansas in 2006. Her interests are applied and public sociology, medical sociology and social gerontology. She began teaching in 2000 at the Metropolitan State College of Denver and then at the University of Colorado Denver. Dr. Hall joined the faculty at North Dakota State University in 2009 as Assistant Professor. She moved back to her home state of Missouri and accepted an instructor position with MSU in 2011. Dr. Hall looks forward to establishing relationships with organiza-tions and agencies in Springfield for the purposes of community enrichment and engaged research. Darrell Lynch (pictured above, right) received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Tennessee. He taught at the University of Tennessee and the University of North Carolina-Asheville before coming to Missouri State University. He has published and presented papers on Spiritist Healing as well as Umbanda in Brazil. His prima-ry areas of scholarly interest include cultural and medical anthropology, cultural change, anthropology and religion, and Brazilian Studies.

News from CHPA

Sociology &Anthropology

Two Faculty Members Join Sociology &

Anthropology

By Melissa Barnard-Sowers, Graduate Student in Applied Anthropology

Eight Missouri State University students, including myself, were fortunate enough to be a part of the 2011 spring intersession Study Away trip to Ghana, led by Dr. Margie Buckner, from the Anthropology Department. The trip was structured around learning about the culture in Ghana, primarily the Asante people. We were offered the opportunity to see many different aspects of Ghanaian culture, such as; the capital city of Accra, the Ashanti capital of Kumasi, the Asante village of Watreso, the tourist city of Cape Coast, and the mining town of Obuasi.

Each leg of our trip had memorable parts. When we arrived in Accra we tried our first Ghanaian meals starting with plantains, rice, red sauce, and mackerel. We also experienced true fear in the tro-tro, a minibus taxi in the busy traffic of the city. In Ku-masi we ventured into, and even became lost in the daily hustle and bustle of Kejetia, the largest open market in West Africa. Continued on next page...

MSU Students Study Away in Ghana

Carrying water in Ghana


Fall 2011

We spent half of our three week trip in the village of Watreso. Some of us volun-teered time at the school and the local health clinic, while others spent time cooking, cleaning, and participating in the domestic life of the residents. In Obuasi we were led on an “unconventional” tour of a gold mine that lasted most of the day due to the guide getting lost or perhaps just pretending to get lost. Either way at 4,000 feet below the surface it was equally frightening. In Cape Coast we were able to view historical remnants of the slave trade and various tourist attractions that draw people from around the world to the area.

Having spent half of our entire trip in Watreso, most of what we took from the experience came from that village. We attempted to learn how to make delicious Ghanaian meals from scratch and how to wash our clothes by hand, but by the looks of our “clean” clothes we all could stand for a few more lessons. Our hosts tried to give us a variety of different Ghanaian dishes; goat stew was the most memorable, because it included all the internal organs of the goat, which were distinguishable amongst the other parts.

We carried water on our heads from the borehole pump, but never with the grace and elegance of the villagers. During the hot days we played games like Owari, a local version of Mancala. When the sun began to set we ate dinner by candle light while getting lessons in Twi, the language of the Asante. Each night brought something new, we wrote haikus, we danced in the rain, and one night I was even stung by a scorpion. Luckily it was not poisonous and there were no side effects. We were given a warm welcome from the community, and needless to say our goodbyes were teary-eyed. All around the trip was a great success, in that it was not just a wonderful learning experience, but three weeks that none of us will ever forget.

News from CHPA


...Ghana Trip, continued

Top, a scorpion welcomes us to Ghana; above, sharing a meal

The first Missouri Mission of Mercy (MOMOM), a free dental care clinic, was held on 23–24 September at the Fair Grounds in Springfield. Lisa Hall, Depart-ment of Sociology and Anthropology, helped with the service event along with 1,046 other volunteers. The dental clinic provided care for 1,856 pa-tients, which amounted to a donation of over $1,100,000 worth of free care. The Foundation is the charitable partner of the Missouri Dental Association working to create better oral health for Missourians through educational programs, access-to-care initiatives and community collabora-tions. The Foundation is a 501©(3) not-for-profit organization, improving Missouri Smiles since 1977.

Sociology Professor Volunteers at MOMOM


Fall 2011

Dr. David Byers and five Missouri State University undergraduates participated in fieldwork in the Pryor Mountains of Montana during July 2011. This project was conducted in cooperation with the Custer National Forest and included both a rockshelter survey in Bear Canyon, located on the southern slope of Big Pryor Mountain, and limited excavations of two prehistoric sites within the same drainage. Test excavations included work at sites 24CB168 and 24CB1677. Site 24CB168 rests in lower Bear Canyon. Bison bones eroding from a cutbank at site 24CB168 signaled the presence of buried archaeological material and the

MSU excavations encountered almost one meter of cultural deposits containing bison and horse bone, a partial moun-tain sheep skull and abundant flaked stone artifacts. Taken together, these materials suggest this site contains the remains of Late Prehistoric and Historic period hunting camps. Site 24CB1677 was located in the alpine zone, high in the Pryor Range. Excavations here encountered rich archaeological deposits dominated by numerous stone artifacts, projectile points and bison bone. This project also included a pedestrian survey of portions

of Bear Canyon that focused on the documentation of caves and rockshelters within the drainage. The survey included an intensive inspection of the canyon’s limestone cliff bands for shelters, caves and other features that might contain cultural material. The MSU field crew documented 75 caves and several were large, deep and contained abundant sedi-ment. These will be the focus of next summer’s research.

David Byers LeadsField Trip in Montana

News from CHPA


Above, MSU students ex-cavating site 24CB1677; left, overview of the Bear Can-yon project area.

MSU Professors Contribute to MO Civic Health Assessment by Mike Stout

In 2010 Missouri State University partnered with the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) to produce the first-ever Missouri Civic Health Assessment. The report was authored by three MSU sociology professors, Dr. Mike Stout (pictured at left), Dr. John Harms, and Dr. Tim Knapp. The report was one of thirteen released at the state level as part of NCoC’s national project to measure the civic health of the nation. The partnership with the National Conference on Citizenship has helped advance the public affairs mission by in-tegrating MSU within a network of university, nonprofit, and governmental organizations all seeking to rebuild the nation’s civic infrastructure. Continued on next page...


Fall 2011

The Missouri Civic Health Assessment can be downloaded and viewed from the NCoC website here: http://www.ncoc.net/mochi2010.

On September 23, 2011 Dr. Stout trav-eled to Phoenix for the 66th Annual Na-tional Conference on Citizenship to represent the university in the first-ever meeting of national civic health partners. Dr. Stout was also a participant in a panel discussion on using civic health data to develop civic strategies in local communities. The panel discussion can be viewed online here: http://ncoc.net/Foundations-of-Success.

Far left, Dr. Tim Knapp; left, Dr. John Harms

...Civic Health, continued News from CHPA


This September Dr. William C. Meadows (pictured, below at right) had an article entitled “Honoring the Native American Code Talkers: The Road to the Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-420).” The article was published in American Indian Research and Culture Journal. Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 3-36, and chronicles the origins and service of native code talkers in United States Military Service and the events leading to recent tribal, state, and federal recognition of all Native American Code Talkers. While the Navajo received federal recognition for their service as code talkers in WW II in 2001, twenty other groups who served in World War I and World War II had not. And although the Navajo were the largest group of native code talkers, they were the last group formed during World war II.

Three of Dr. Meadows’ previous publications relating to Native American Code Talkers and his testimony before a Senate Committee in 2004 was used to help get the federal legislation passed to honor these men.

Anthropology Professor Promotes Recognitionof Native American Code Talkers

Above, Comanche statue honoring their code talkers. Comanche Nation Complex, Lawton, Ok.; right, Floyd Dan (Hopi Tribe), 323rd Inf. Reg., 81st Division, using a phone in the field during World War II

http://www.ncoc.net/mochi2010

http://ncoc.net/Foundations


Fall 2011

by Mike Stout

In recent years, social media technology has transformed the ways that Americans interact with each other. Social media usage is particularly high among college students, and recent research suggests that there is a rela-tionship between social media usage and participation in public affairs. In 2010 the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning began a study of social media usage on campus called the eCitizenship Project. The goal of the eCitizenship Project is to learn more about social media usage among Missouri State students, and to see how social media usage is related to student civic engagement. Working with the FCTL, Dr. Michael Stout (Assistant Professor of Sociology) administered an e-mail survey to more than 500 MSU undergraduates. On September 12, Dr. Stout (pictured, below) helped kick off public affairs week by presenting the results of the study in the PSU Theater. The presentation was recorded and can be accessed on the FCTL website here: http://www.missouristate.edu/fctl/120440.htm.

The survey revealed some interesting trends in social media usage by students. Specifically, the results of the survey showed that social media technology usage is ubiquitous on campus, with e-mail, text messaging, Facebook, and YouTube be-ing the most popular. The results also showed that students feel more connected and engaged with community issues because of social media technologies, and that students who use social media frequently are more likely to say they’d like to see it used more often in their classes than students who don’t use it very often. In fact, nearly 2/3 of respondents said that the use of social media in classes made the class more engaging.

The survey also revealed some interesting trends in civic engagement and participation in public affairs. For example, MSU students appear to be highly active on campus and in their communities, and civic engagement was highest for students with high levels of general trust, and for students who participate in voluntary associations on campus and in the local com-munity. Interestingly, frequent users of social media (esp. text messaging & Facebook) were more likely to be civically engaged than less frequent users, and students who use twitter frequently were more likely to attend public meetings than less frequent twitter users.

Students at MSU are also very active politically. The most common political activities for students were signing peti-tions and voting, but relatively large numbers are also active in other ways. Students who are more trusting and who partici-pate in voluntary associations are more likely to participate in politics, but membership in campus organizations is not related to most types of political participation (except for signing print petitions). Frequent users of twitter are more actively involved in politics than frequent users of text messaging or Facebook.

The internet and social media are becoming important sources of news and informa-tion for students, as nearly half (49%) of students reported that they primarily get their news and information online, and the likelihood of accessing news and information online increases with the frequency of social media usage.

The FCTL will be administering a follow-up eCitizenship survey to students this fall, and will also be administering a version of the survey to MSU faculty and staff. The eCitize-ship project is also looking for students, faculty, and staff who would be interested in serving on the eCitizenship advisory committee. Students, faculty, and staff who are interested in participating in the eCitizenship project should contact Dr. Michael Stout ([email protected]) for more information on ways to get involved.

Mike Stout Surveys eCitizenshipNews from CHPA


http://www.missouristate.edu/fctl/120440.htm



Would you like to contribute? Here’s how! The size of scholarships at both the graduate and undergraduate levels needs to be augmented, as does the outside speaker lecturer (Warren) fund. In addition, while Strong Hall is quite lovely and is equipped with state-of-the-art projection systems, it still lacks artistic decoration such as paintings and sculptures. If you would like to send a donation to help the College of Humanities and Public Affairs aid its undergraduate and graduate students or in other ways enhance our educational mission, please print out this form and send it to:

Missouri State University Foundation901 South National Avenue

Springfield, MO 65897-0089

Please make your check payable to: Missouri State Foundation

Or go online: www.missouristatefoundation.org

For more information, please contact:Dr. Victor Matthews, Dean, College of Humanities and Public Affairs - 417.836.5529

[email protected]

Please specify where you would like your donation applied:

_____ Area of greatest need _____ CHPA General Fund

_____ Bernice S. Warren Lecture Series _____ CHPA Scholarship

_____ Equipment or Art _____ Endow classroom

Name: ________________________________________________________________________________

Address, City, Zip: _______________________________________________________________________

Phone: ________________ E-mail: _______________________________________________________

We / I would like to make a contribution of:

_____ $50 _____ $100 _____ $500 __________ Other (please specify amount)

CHPA Giving

College of Humanities and Public Affairs Fall 2011

www.missouristatefoundation.org


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