FALL 2014

UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI

AN OUTSIDE-THE-BOX LINGUISTIC PROGRAM PREPARES STUDENTS FOR GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

DILS: 16P.

the diversity issue

DEAN’SMESSAGE

LEONIDAS G. BACHASDean of the UM College of Arts & Sciences

Language is the key to connection, and the Directed Independent Language Study (DILS) program gives students an opportunity to learn the languages they will need to be global citizens, in addition, of course, to other languages offered in a traditional classroom setting.

Students majoring in many disciplines, from math to political science, participate in DILS to gain vital language skills and cultural understanding. The dedicated young people who commit to this program – free of charge – are perfectly poised to become tomorrow’s leaders. It is no coincidence that DILS students have earned many of the most prestigious scholarships awarded nationally and internationally.

Cultural integration is a focus in our classrooms, where students gain a broad understanding of sciences, arts, the humanities, and social sciences.

Interdisciplinary programs – such as Africana Studies, American Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies –

transcend the traditional boundaries in the curriculum. All three of these programs have new directors this year, and I look forward to the impact that they will make on the most pressing issues from multiple perspectives to benefit our students’ learning.

Students in the College have unprecedented opportunities to engage in research, working alongside some of the most creative and accomplished faculty in the world. Every week, our sociologists, biologists, psychologists, physicists and other faculty are making discoveries that will change the way we live. I am proud to share some recent research successes with you in this issue of the magazine. It is exciting to ponder where these advances will lead.

There is no doubt that in order to succeed in this global environment our students need to work and live in a way that embraces different cultures. This process begins right here in the College of Arts & Sciences, where students gain insights that prepare them to be citizens of the world.

Your gift to the College of Arts & Sciences helps us support student scholarships and retain leading faculty. Visit www.as.miami.edu/donate/ or scan this QR code with your smartphone to find out how your contribution can make a difference.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE

PAVING THE WAY FOR DIVERSITY IN EDUCATION, RESEARCH EXPERIENCES AND BEYOND

I am thrilled to share with you, through this fall issue, the

unique ways in which the College of Arts & Sciences

engages in and fosters education from diverse perspectives.

Each fall, we welcome students from more than 50

countries to begin their experiences at UM. And each

spring, we send newly minted alumni across the globe

– to work, to pursue further studies, to leave their marks.

ARTS | SCIENCES 1

VOLUMEFIFTEEN | ISSUEONE

FALL 2014

CONTENTS 2 | News Briefs

12 | Faculty Research

20 | Class Spotlight

21 | Philanthropy

22 | Tracking Hurricanes

24 | CAS Event Calendar

www.facebook.com/UMCASfor photos, news, and events from the College

FEATURES

10 | Cultural Visionaries: New Directors of Africana Studies and American Studies Programs Share their Visions

DEPARTMENTS

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCESDeanLeonidas G. Bachas

Senior Associate DeansDouglas FullerAngel KaiferMaria Galli Stampino

Associate DeanCharles Mallery

Assistant DeanAthena Sanders

ADVANCEMENTAssistant Dean of AdvancementJeanne Luisjluis@miami.edu

EDITORIALDirector of CommunicationsPapsy Miletip.mileti@umiami.edu

Editor/WriterMelissa Peerlessm.peerless@miami.edu

Editorial Contributor(s)Raymond Mathewsraymond.mathews@miami.edu

Design and IllustrationChristina Ullman and Alix Northrup,Ullman Design

CopyeditorCarlos Harrison

Arts & Sciences is produced in the fall and spring by the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Miami. Through the magazine, we seek to increase awareness of the College’s activities by telling the stories of faculty, staff, students and alumni. Send comments, requests for permission to reprint material, requests for extra copies and change-of-address notification to: Arts & Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences, P.O. Box 248004, Coral Gables, FL 33124-4620. Telephone: (305) 284-2485. All contents © 2014, University of Miami. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.

Visit the College of Art & Sciences on the web: http://www.as.miami.edu.

Past issues of the magazine are available at: http://www.as.miami.edu/news/magazine

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14 | Teaching Tomorrow’s Scientists: STEM Education Innovations Open the Doors to Research and Discovery

16 | DILS: An Unconventional Linguistic Opportunity for Citizens of the World

CORRECTIONThe functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner pictured in the Spring 2014 issue was incorrectly identified as a GE 750 3T.

NEWSBRIEFS

Elaine Golden, a senior math and international studies major, has parlayed her love of numbers and people into a prestigious scholarship. Golden was named a 2014 Thomas R. Pickering Undergraduate Foreign Affairs Fellow. Only 40 students (just 20 undergrads) across the nation are selected each year.

The Pickering Fellowship provides financial support toward tuition for Fellows’ senior year of college and their first year of graduate school – along with summer internships in America and abroad. Upon completing their master’s degree, Fellows commit to five years of service as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer.

“Thanks to this fellowship, I get to look forward to a career in which I promote U.S. interests abroad and positively influence our foreign policy,” Golden said.

She is already an active global citizen, who has interned with

the Department of Defense, the State Department and her congresswoman. At UM, Golden is involved with Model United Nations and STRIVE, a service and leadership housing community where she serves as a co-community assistant.

Associate Professor of Political Science Joseph Parent said, “Elaine’s work stands out because she strikes a healthy balance between creativity and productivity. She doesn’t make excuses; she just works hard at getting better.”

The Pickering Fellowship program recognizes students who “have demonstrated skills critical to members of the U.S. diplomatic corps, including dedication, initiative, integrity, cultural adaptability, the ability to communicate well, and a thorough intellectual background.”

Senior math and international relations major Elaine Golden, pictured with Associate Professor of Political Science Joseph Parent, was named a 2014 Thomas R. Pickering Undergraduate Foreign Affairs Fellow.

SENIOR NAMED 2014 PICKERING FOREIGN AFFAIRS FELLOW

A&S STUDENTS RECEIVE WORLD-WIDE RECOGNITION

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AWARDED 2014 FULBRIGHT SCHOLARSHIPS

Recent grad Riana Brown, a psychology and international studies major, was awarded a Fulbright Study Grant to the Netherlands, where she is pursuing a master’s degree in social psychology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; her research focuses on the evolutionary psychology of leadership. Brown is also working with Amnesty International Netherlands. At UM, she worked in the William R. Butler Center for Volunteer Service and Leadership Development.

Sergio Giro, a 2014 grad in Italian and Spanish, was awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Grant to Brazil. Giro plans to pursue a career in foreign language education. He is working with non-governmental organizations in Brazil to empower youth, particularly LGBT adolescents. Giro has volunteered in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and as a reading tutor with America Reads.

Junior Elizabeth Haynes, an English and economics major, participated in Fulbright Summer Institutes in the United Kingdom, studying at Durham University for a four-week cultural and academic program centered on archaeology.

Students who receive Fulbright Scholarships travel to a foreign country to undertake an individually designed study/research or artistic project, or to serve as an English teaching assistant. Each year, the program awards about 1,900 grants, which fund travel to 155 countries, to students in all fields of study.

2 FALL 2014

A&S STUDENTS ARE TEACHING AND LEARNING ACROSS THE GLOBE AS PART OF THE FULBRIGHT U.S. STUDENT PROGRAM.

ARTS | SCIENCES 3

Junior Daniel Richter was recognized as one of the nation’s outstanding future scientists, as he was named a 2014 Barry M. Goldwater Scholar.

Only 288 Goldwater scholarships were awarded in the United States this year.

Richter is majoring in applied physics and computer science. At each of the past two Mathematical Association of America Florida Section meetings, he brought home gold medals for UM from the statewide Student Integral Contest – where students solve increasingly challenging calculus problems.

Richter spent a year researching carbohydrate binding in the Department of Chemistry, and is co-president of the Association of Computing Machinery this year.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program awards scholarships to college sophomores and juniors who intend to pursue research careers in math and the sciences. Each scholarship provides up to $7,500 for tuition, fees and books.

Joanna Weremijewicz, a biology Ph.D. student, has received a Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant from the National Science Foundation to support her research on fungi that help plants absorb nutrients from soil.

Weremijewicz said “80% of plants have these fungi in their roots.” The microscopic fungi create tiny networks, which connect plants through their roots. She is investigating “if certain plants benefit more than others when connected by these fungi, or if everyone gets equal amounts of nutrients” – providing insight into plant competition.

Students and faculty at Miami’s Richmond Heights Middle School are supporting Weremijewicz’s research. She established a relationship with Richmond Heights teachers two years ago through the Science Made Sensible program, a partnership between the University of Miami and the Miami-Dade County Public School System, which pairs graduate students in the sciences with middle school teachers to create lessons that build student enthusiasm for science.

The Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant provides nearly $20,000 to fund one year of research. Weremijewicz is using part of the funding to hire and mentor undergraduate students.

JUNIOR AWARDED 2014 GOLDWATER SCHOLARSHIP

Goldwater Scholar Daniel Richter, with Victor Milenkovic, professor and director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Computer Science.

COLLEGE GRAD RECEIVES GLOBAL GRANT SCHOLARSHIP FROM ROTARY FOUNDATION

Michael Matthiesen, a 2012 College graduate, has received a $30,000 Rotary Foundation Global Grant Scholarship. He will use the funding to study for one year at University College London (UCL).

“The master’s program I am enrolling in explores the central ethical, economic and political problems facing health policy in the UK and abroad, especially in relation to social justice,” Matthiesen said.

Rotary International District Governor for District 6990 Ellen Blasi said Matthiesen is one of only 70 scholarship recipients worldwide. “We are very proud of Michael and the Rotarians in our Rotary District who championed this effort,” she said.

After earning his A.B. in international studies and political science in 2012, Matthiesen became an AmeriCorps VISTA with the Single Stop USA program at Miami Dade College (MDC).

“Single Stop tries to help the 46 percent of MDC students that are living at or below the poverty line,” Matthiesen explained. With an enrollment of 174,000 students, this adds up to 80,000+ individuals.

Through Single Stop, eligible students can apply for financial aid programs such as SNAP (food stamps), Medicaid, and veteran’s benefits. According to Matthiesen’s supervisors, his work has helped students access more than $2.5 million in services.

Matthiesen is enrolled in the Community and Social Change program at the UM School of Education and Human Development. He also hosts RadioActive, a weekly talk show that features interviews with community leaders who have innovative ideas to change the world, on WVUM 90.5.

He said, “The world class education that I received from the University of Miami as an undergraduate student has been nothing but pivotal in my experiences.”

BIOLOGY PH.D. STUDENT RECEIVES DISSERTATION SUPPORT GRANT FROM NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

Ph.D. Student Joanna Weremijewicz with the boxes she designed for her research on fungi that help plants absorb nutrients.

(Left) Michael Matthiesen shares information about the Single Stop program with Miami Dade College students.

4 FALL 2014

SENIOR MWAMBO CELEBRATES MULTICULTURALISM AND ACADEMIC SUCCESS

As three drummers set the tone, close to 200 students wearing decorated mortarboards, colorful fraternity/sorority stoles, and proud smiles marched into Gusman Concert Hall for the University of Miami’s 22nd Senior Mwambo on Thursday, May 8.

“I appreciated the recognition of multicultural and ethnic diversity,” graduate Abigail Nichols said of the African rite of passage ceremony. “It gave us something familiar in a setting where we really are a minority.” A tradition at UM for more than two decades, the Senior Mwambo marks the transition of black graduates from their lives at the University of Miami to the workforce, graduate/professional schools, and beyond.

For Nichols, who graduated from the College with a B.S. in criminology and psychology, that transition from student to worker still includes the U. She is working as a security supervisor for the UM Department of Housing and Residential Life. She plans to apply to graduate programs in forensic science for fall 2015.

Senior Mwambo includes four main symbolic components: food, to nourish the body and the spirit; music, to invoke God and the ancestral spirits; water, to represent the medium of life; and kente cloth, to symbolize African cultural identity.

Edmund Abaka, associate professor of history and former chair of the Africana Studies Program, served as the presiding ceremonial elder. He led a ritual called “pouring libation,” describing it as “an important African religious rite to invoke the presence of the ancestors.”

The libation was performed in two languages, English and Twii. It included an invitation to God to receive drink, a blessing of the earth, and a blessing of respect to the ancestors. In Eastern Africa, libation ceremonies accompany all important life events, such as birth, marriage, and death.

“During the ceremony, we celebrate the achievements of our students of color, and we ask for the blessings of the ancestors as they make this transition,” Abaka explained.

Addressing the 2014 graduates, he added, “Today you embark on a journey. May you soar like eagles. We invoke our ancestors from the north, south, east, and west to celebrate you, encourage you, and see you through this transition.

“May your initiative, energy, creativity and wisdom be utilized for the benefit of yourselves, your families, your community, your nation, and your alma mater,” he continued. “Whatever your state, your situation, your condition in life, never forget to be humble.”

Senior Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education William Green also spoke to the graduates.

“We are blessed to be in a place that celebrates diversity as a political, cultural and social good,” he said. “Pluralism is a necessity for excellence in an educational setting. Homogeneity is the enemy of thought.”

He told them they have already left an indelible mark on the University of Miami and that now it is time for them to “step outside and use what you have learned here as a foundation to craft a life. Your presence and work, inside and outside the classroom, have made this a better place.”

Senior Mwambo was instituted at UM in 1992 by student Patrick A. Masala, B.S.C. ’93, who is from Malawi, East Africa, where Mwambo is a popular ritual. The annual ceremony at UM is organized by the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs.

Left: Associate Professor of History and former Director of the Africana Studies Program Edmund Abaka “pours libation” at the 2014 Senior Mwambo ceremony. Center and Right: Students celebrate at the 2014 Senior Mwambo ceremony.

NEWSBRIEFS ENGLISH | PSYCHOLOGY | B IOLOGY | INTERNAT IONAL STUDIES | ART H ISTORYNEWSBRIEFS

ARTS | SCIENCES 5

Like living in a Residential College or enjoying a Friday afternoon at the Rat, English Composition classes are part of every first-year student’s experience at the University of Miami.

As the UM student body diversifies – drawing more international students than ever before, and opening the doors of higher education to an ever-growing number of young people – the English Composition Program is using technology and team-teaching methods to enhance its student-centered approach.

“We have a wide range of students, and we work to meet the needs of students coming from all over the world,” says Judy Hood, a senior English composition lecturer who teaches required courses English 105 and 106.

More than 15% of the student body comes from outside the United States, and the professors work hard to make their classes culturally inclusive – and select topics that will “grab them and keep them engaged,” Hood says. The objective is to teach all students to write effectively for college and beyond, to ask meaningful questions and seek answers in texts, society and themselves.

The composition lecturers participate in “teaching circles,” which bring four or five teachers together to investigate a pedagogical topic. During the last school year, the focus for most of the circles was collaborating with multi-media in the composition curriculum.

“By incorporating multi-modal approaches to teaching and to the process of writing and communication itself, students are better aware of audience, context, and how to make effective situation-based writing choices,” says Composition Program Director Joanna Johnson.

Hood says, “We want to offer our students as many opportunities as possible to integrate technology into their writing process.”

She adds that digital tools have given students more opportunities to review and comment on each other’s work, and allowed students who are not comfortable speaking up in class to more fully participate and develop

ENGLISH COMPOSITION TEACHING METHODS EXPAND AS STUDENT BODY DIVERSIFIES

A STUDENT-CENTERED APPROACH

confidence. These resources also help students “ease into the idea of publishing what they write,” she says.

Johnson notes, “Each instructor uses technology differently, but all students in composition will work online with peer groups, blogging, commenting, contributing to in-house and external websites, wiki pages, or discussion boards.” Many instructors also incorporate multimedia projects.

“People think that technology takes over,” Hood says, “but it actually helps students break down units and see how things connect.”

Johnson adds, “Using new media enhances student success in writing and communication because it means students can write on a daily basis in ways that have real value both in and outside the classroom.”

Hood’s courses focus on visual rhetoric, exploring the relationship between images

and words, and its effectiveness for engaging an audience and provoking critical thinking. She helps students explore and express their observations and analysis through the collaboration of visual and verbal texts. Last semester, she worked with the campus Media Lab to help students create their own books.

The students produced essays, poetry, stories, books and videos. Hood says, “The students learned how to present information in an organized way, but also how to present it in a way that is viable for today’s environment.”

She adds that they learned the power of context, and “lensing” – recognizing the role of the viewer/reader’s interpretation of a visual or written piece. Finally, she says, “They learned that they don’t have to come to a conclusion, don’t have to prove something. They need to ask the questions that will open the conversation instead of shutting it down.”

Students in an introductory English Composition class share their inquiry writing projects in a peer review group.

6 FALL 2014

NEWSBRIEFS E N G L I S H | P S Y C H O L O G Y | B I O L O G Y | I N T E R N AT I O N A L S T U D I E S | A R T H I S T O R YNEWSBRIEFS

LGBTQ STUDIES PROGRAM REACHES BEYOND THE COLLEGEThe University of Miami has a “perfect” academic life for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students, according to Campus Pride, the leading national organization working to create a safer college environment for gay students. It awarded UM five of five stars in its Pride Index.

The Minor in LGBTQ Studies is a major factor that helped UM earn this distinction. Created in spring 2012 – and part of the Women’s and Gender Studies (WGS) Program – the minor requires at least 15 credits in LGBTQ studies courses, taken in two or more different departments. Class offerings this semester include Queer Theatre, and Popular Representations of Queer Sexuality.

“Since most people are heterosexual, society is set up in what scholars would call a ‘heteronormative’ fashion – laws, policies, cultural practices, etc., are arranged around a heterosexual life course,” said Associate Professor of Political Science and newly appointed Director of WGS Louise Davidson-Schmich.

Thus far, 12 students have minored in LGBTQ studies. Donors have sponsored scholarships to support LGBTQ-identified students studying abroad, and to provide funding to LBTQ women in the LGBTQ studies minor.

Associate Professor of Portuguese Steven Butterman, the former WGS director who founded the LGBTQ Studies Program, said UM is the only college in the Southeastern United States to offer a minor in LGBTQ studies. “We are well-positioned to develop a major in the years to come, becoming one of only a handful of universities in the world that offer a major in this interdisciplinary area,” he said.

“I am delighted that since its inception, enrollments in our LGBTQ studies courses have quadrupled,” Butterman added. “Instead of offering one course every year, the Program in Women’s and Gender Studies now struggles to meet student demand by giving four or five courses per year.” Last semester, both LGBTQ studies courses filled quickly, and had long waiting lists.

The LGBTQ Studies Program reaches beyond the College, and even UM. Last spring, the Queer Studies Research Group collaborated with the Center for the Humanities and several other departments in the College to sponsor the successful symposium, “Thinking Queer Activism Transnationally,” which brought together scholars and activists from

across the globe to discuss topics from “internet activism” to LGBTQ rights in the global South. It also included a student-focused follow-up conversation on how youth can address LGBTQ issues locally.

“Thinking about the world through a queer lens – assuming a non-heterosexual perspective – highlights some of the hidden assumptions or inconsistencies present in our institutions, ” Davidson-Schmich said. She cited an example from Germany, where she focuses her research and where gay couples cannot legally marry.

“When couples in Germany marry, they become eligible for huge tax breaks. The reason this policy began was so that a man could support a stay-at-home wife who would, in turn, care for the couple’s children,” she explained. However, married couples who remain childless receive this benefit, while gay couples who adopt children do not. “There was an assumption that marriage and procreation were synonymous.”

Davidson-Schmich’s most recent book examines gender quotas in German elections. These policies have increased the number of women elected in Germany, she said, “but they have not changed the rules of the political game, which are based on male life experiences.” As a result, she is critically examining “how seemingly gender-neutral everyday practices work to men’s advantage,” an exercise that takes her work beyond political science – and that attracted her to the Women’s and Gender Studies Program.

Her main goals as director are to “expand the program’s inter-disciplinary nature to include cooperation with faculty beyond the College of Arts & Sciences,” and to increase philanthropic support to provide opportunities for students to research and travel to conferences, Davidson-Schmich said. She sees opportunities to collaborate with faculty in the Schools of Law and Communications, and at the Miller School of Medicine, who have interests in women’s and gender-related issues.

“Our courses encourage students to think critically and question assumptions about things that they’ve taken for granted,” she said, adding, “All classes involve considerable analytical writing and critical thinking. These skills will serve students well later in life, both as citizens and as part of the workforce.”

ARTS | SCIENCES 7

ROBOCANES SOCCER TEAM TAKES 2ND PLACE IN 2014 WORLD ROBOCUP TOURNAMENT

The RoboCanes, UM’s team of autonomous, soccer-playing robots – which can learn from experience, make real-time decisions and communicate as a group – took second place at the 2014 RoboCup.

RoboCup is the world’s largest artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics event. The international robot soccer tournament took place in João Pessoa, Brazil, in July, timed to coincide with the human World Cup.

The 3D Simulation League focuses on team cooperation and strategy. The RoboCanes placed second of 12 teams, losing in the finals to longtime rivals Austin Villa (from the University of Texas at Austin).

Associate Professor of Computer Science Ubbo Visser, who leads the RoboCanes project alongside a group of computer science students, said, “This group showed a big jump in quality this year.” Many teams demonstrated improved movement that allowed longer and higher kicks. “RoboCanes also showed this quality.”

The team competing in the Standard Platform League – in which all teams use identical robots – earned a perfect score in the technical audio challenge. Tournament organizers played a series of defined sounds, including a human blowing a whistle, for the robots to recognize. The RoboCanes were one of only three teams to acknowledge and respond to all of the sounds.

Visser said, “This reflects the importance of human-robot interactions,” currently a focus of AI research. “RoboCanes solved this problem perfectly, and we can be proud of this performance.”

The University of Miami has appointed Jill Deupi as the Beaux Arts Director of the Lowe Art Museum.

Deupi served as director and chief curator of University Museums at Fairfield University in Connecticut.

“I am honored to have been selected to lead the Lowe Art Museum as it embarks on an exciting new chapter in its rich and storied history,” Deupi said. “The museum is perfectly poised to catapult itself to the next level, building upon its tremendous resources and past successes while embracing 21st century museum practice, contemporary art and culture, and new education modalities – above all, participatory learning.”

Deupi credits the Lowe’s solid foundation and Miami’s effervescent arts scene for her decision to join UM. One of her goals for the museum is “to connect

its remarkable collections to the contemporary art world and current cultural trends.” She hopes to accomplish this partly with enhanced public accessibility to the Lowe’s holdings via an online, user-friendly database.

Under Deupi’s leadership as founding director, Fairfield’s Bellarmine Museum of Art welcomed thousands of visitors since it opened to the public in late 2010. Deupi curated close to 20 temporary exhibitions at the Bellarmine and at Fairfield’s Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery, which she also directed since 2013. Deupi also served as an assistant professor of art history at Fairfield University.

Opened in 1952, the Lowe Art Museum is Miami-Dade County’s first and only comprehensive visual arts institution, featuring the region’s most diverse collection of world art. The Lowe’s distinguished permanent collection spans 5,000 years of western and non-western art history, highlights of which can be seen in the museum’s nine galleries. Brian Dursum, director of the Lowe Art Museum since 1990, announced his retirement in September 2013.

A NEW OUTLOOK FOR THE LOWE ART MUSEUM JILL DEUPI APPOINTED BEAUX ARTS DIRECTOR

8 FALL 2014

DOES PERCEPTION HAVE CONTENT? (2014)

Berit Brogaard Philosophy

Explores the major philosophical debate about perception from a variety of viewpoints.

LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY: EVIDENCE ACROSS LANGUAGES AND COGNITIVE DOMAINS (2013)

Caleb Everett Anthropology

Introduces current findings on linguistic relativity, and answers: Does the language you speak affect how you think?

Acting on the ScriptBruce Miller

ACTING ON THE SCRIPT (2014)

Bruce Miller Theatre Arts

Offers script analysis methods specifically for actors.

A CONCISE TREATISE ON QUANTUM MECHANICS IN PHASE SPACE (2014)

Thomas Curtright Physics

Examines quantum mechanics formulated simultaneously in terms of position and momentum.

UN PUEBLO DISPERSE/A DISPERSED PEOPLE (2014)

Josune Urbistondo English

Bilingual critical text showcases new pieces from established Cuban-American critics and new voices in the field.

DORK SWAGGER (2013)

Steven Karl English

Poetry collection awarded the Joanna Cargill First Book Award from publisher Coconut Books.

MYTH AND SCRIPTURE: CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES ON RELIGION, LANGUAGE AND IMAGINATION (2014)

Dexter Callender Editor/Contributor Religious Studies

Collected essays focus on the concept of myth and its place in biblical studies.

THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF LUISA DE CARVAJAL Y MENDOZA (2014)

Anne J. Cruz Editor/Translator Modern Languages and Literatures

Details the life of the Spanish noblewoman, poet and religious activist.

A CRITICAL INTRODUCTION TO RELIGION IN THE AMERICAS: BRIDGING THE LIBERATION THEOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES DIVIDE (2014)

Michelle Gonzalez Religious Studies

Provides an introduction to the study of religion and theology in the latino/a, black and Latin American contexts.

IMAGINED GLOBALIZATION (2014)

George Yúdice, Editor/Translator Modern Languages and Literatures

Leading cultural studies figure Néstor García Canclini considers how globalization is imagined by artists, academics, migrants and entrepreneurs.

BOOKMARKS

ARTS | SCIENCES 9

In Accra, Ghana, nearly half of all patients who visit a health care facility will ultimately receive a malaria diagnosis. This pattern persists in many West African

cities, where people suffering from prevalent symptoms like fevers, body aches, headaches, and fatigue are commonly diagnosed with malaria – without clinical consideration of other diseases.

Malaria has been identified as one of the “big three” international health priorities (along with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis), and most hospitals in this region do not have the resources to perform blood tests that would confirm the cause of illness in all, or even most, patients. Malaria antibiotics are readily available, often subsidized by international development agencies, and both hospital staff and patients are accustomed to managing the disease.

Assistant Professor of Geography Justin Stoler believes that most of these patients, however, are actually sick with other bacterial, viral, and fungal diseases. He notes that global health organizations spend billions of dollars on anti-malarials and other malaria control strategies, but malaria may no longer be as pervasive a disease as once thought – particularly in a rapidly urbanizing world. The symptoms of febrile illness are common to dozens of local infectious diseases, making accurate diagnoses extremely difficult.

Stoler theorizes that dengue fever and other viral infections could be the culprit in a significant number of cases. Dengue is a tropical disease that is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, a different species than those that spread malaria.

SMALL BITES, BIG THREATS

FEATURED FACULTY IN THE COLLEGE OF ARTS & SC IENCES FACULTYPROFILE

JUSTIN STOLER Assistant Professor

of Geography

The Aedes mosquito, which can carry the dengue, yellow fever and chikungunya viruses, thrive near human settlements.

They have become “urban mosquitoes”, found in Accra and most other tropical (and increasingly temperate) cities. Aedes can breed in as little as a tablespoon of water. They rarely fly very far from their domestic breeding sources – typically water-holding containers found in and around the home. They are strong and persistent biters during daylight hours, rather than at night; this complicates traditional mosquito control efforts such as bed net interventions.

Stoler is working with an interdisciplinary team of environmental health scientists, biochemists and virologists at the University of Ghana at Legon to look for dengue cases in patients from three cities across Ghana.

Using existing blood samples of confirmed malaria patients, Stoler and his colleagues have identified a surprising number of recent dengue fever infections, including possible co-infections of malaria and dengue fever.

This work is important for a number of reasons.

When people do not know why they are getting sick, they cannot protect themselves from what is likely causing the illness. Stoler cited numerous environmental health risks in Accra and other cities: poor sanitation and accumulated waste that can go uncollected for weeks, wastewater reuse, sewage runoff (particularly during the rainy season, when illness rates tend to spike) and various insect vectors, or pathogen transmitters.

“There is a popular disconnect between environmental risk factors and what is really

making people sick, which is often related to piles of trash, cross-contamination from open sewers, and various mosquitoes of public health importance,” Stoler explained.

Clinician education is equally important to ensure that attending physicians ask the right questions about symptoms or exposure.

Another worry is that the over-prescription of anti-malarials could lead to the growth of drug-resistant malaria parasites, which is already occurring in Southeast Asia.

Finally, when people are misdiagnosed at the hospital, they return home just as sick as when they came in. Their condition could worsen, and they could develop complications, which occasionally lead to death.

This is a public health concern, but also an important economic issue. Stoler asked, “When people are constantly sick, how are they supposed to be productive and help grow the local economy? How will the workforce develop?”

His research is an important step toward strengthening both healthcare and the economy in Ghana and beyond.

Geography Professor Investigates Emerging Mosquito-Borne

Illnesses in West Africa

The edge of a typical slum in Accra, Ghana, strewn with trash and water-holding containers that can potentially harbor Aedes mosquitoes, which carry dengue fever.

10 FALL 2014

CULTURAL VISIONARIES NEW DIRECTORS OF AFRICANA STUDIES AND AMERICAN

STUDIES PROGRAMS SHARE THEIR VISIONS

Sitting at the “crossroads of the Americas,” Miami “is a unique vantage point from which to broaden our practice and our understanding of American Studies,” said Donette Francis, associate professor of English and the new director of the interdisciplinary Program in American Studies.

“We look at culture and cultural productions like music, literature, new technologies to answer the

question, ‘What is America?’”

Taking the reins this semester, Francis has two broad goals: making American Studies “the interdisciplinary hub that gives visibility to Miami-centered courses” throughout the College of Arts & Sciences; and strengthening the “professional appeal” of the American Studies major.

She envisions “Miami-based internships that would count toward senior projects, allowing students to parlay pre-professional training into the local job market.” This would help her achieve both of her goals.

Although her research on the multi-linguistic Caribbean and its diasporas is housed in the Department of English, Francis earned her Ph.D. in American Studies from New York University. “The insistence on comparative American Studies is the texture of my scholarship,” she said.

“Through multidisciplinary approaches, American Studies provides

an opportunity to gain a critical understanding of the historical cultural formation of the U.S. and its contemporary legacies. Inquiries into how power works – and how that manifests in terms of race, ethnicity, gender and class – are implicit critical and pedagogical practices,” Francis said. “We look at culture and cultural productions like music, literature, new technologies to answer the question, ‘What is America?’”

Francis is grateful to “inherit a program that already works through active faculty collaborations.” UM’s “amazing archival collection” – such as the Helen C. Purdy Florida Collection and the recently acquired Pan American World Airways archives – are also outstanding resources for the American Studies Program, she said.

Francis believes that American Studies is a critical part of UM’s positioning to become “a major national and global institution of research and learning.”

“My initiatives will further build faculty investment and profile in American Studies through course development, loyalty and identity,” she said, adding that dual faculty appointments in American Studies will be key.

“American Studies offers a unique opportunity to look at problems within a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary framework” while it “emphasizes thinking about how knowledge relates to the social world,” said Francis.

She is looking forward to working with the directors of the other interdisciplinary studies programs, such as Latin American Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, and Africana Studies.

Her colleague in the Department of English, Professor David Ikard, has just assumed the directorship of the Africana Studies Program.

His plans for the program are “ultimately about trying to encourage students, across racial lines, to become more politically and intellectually self-aware,” Ikard said.

ARTS | SCIENCES 11

NEWFACULTYMany of today’s most pressing issues do not “fit” in the disciplines into which universities are traditionally organized. From rapid globalization, to energy, to climate change, these challenges require a collaborative approach.

The College of Arts & Sciences has joined the ranks of institutions using cluster hires to address such topics from an interdisciplinary perspective. Two new faculty members in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures are also part of innovative cross-College cultural studies clusters. They will ensure that our students have a solid grounding in their languages, while gaining a wider perspective on issues, traditions, and international relations.

NEW FACULTY IN THE COLLEGE OF ARTS & SC IENCES

COMINGS GOINGS

Departments: Anthropology, English, History, Modern Languages and Literatures

Research and teaching interests: French and Francophone Civilization and Literary Theory, 20th Century Literature of the French Caribbean and Francophone Africa, Contemporary Latin American Fiction, Literature and Immigration, Globalization Studies, Transnational Feminisms, the Black Atlantic

ALEXANDRA PERISICAssistant Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures

”I believe teaching at University of Miami will be a unique experience due to the highly international student body. Furthermore, being part of the Modern Languages and Literatures department opens up opportunities for comparative and interdisciplinary work.“

”The cultural diversity on campus makes the University of Miami unique.“

Departments: Art and Art History, Geography and Regional Studies, International Studies, Modern Languages and Literatures, Political Science, Religious Studies

Research and teaching interests: Modern Arabic Literature and Culture, Arab Cinema, Urban Literature in Arabic Literature, among others

MONA EL-SHERIFAssistant Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures

Courses will encourage students to “think of their own racial, ideological perceptions of what is real,” leading them to understand that when they are studying African and African American experiences, they are really studying the human condition.

“In other words, black experiences are not alien or ‘othered,’ in relation to the whites,” Ikard said, adding that students will have opportunities to explore “how African and African American experiences are filtered through various cultural lenses.”

Ikard wants Africana Studies majors and minors – and any students who take classes through the program – to “get a broad intellectual perspective on how Africans and African Americans have indelibly marked what it means to be an American, a citizen of the world, and, most importantly, a human being.”

He explained that diversity “enhances and enriches the educational experience, rather than detracts from it.” He noted further that “the push for diversity is not about vapid inclusiveness, but about exposing our students to different modes of knowledge and cultural perspectives that will ultimately pay dividends far beyond their professional pursuits.”

Africana Studies majors have two prerequisites: Introduction to Africana Studies, and two courses on African or African American history. Other courses that fulfill the requirements cover topics from Rastafarianism to black theatre.

Ikard himself is planning on teaching a class on race in sports. He will bring his considerable expertise on African American literature,

with a focus on hip hop culture, black feminist criticism and black masculinity, to the classroom.

Ikard has written three books. The most recent is Blinded by the Whites: Why Race Still Matters in the 21st Century. This book investigates the new, and more nuanced, racial dynamics in the current era – and considers how blacks can navigate these dynamics in constructive and empowering ways.

Ikard uses his own personal experiences – growing up in the Deep South in the 1970s, and as a parent in an “increasingly brown America” – as political touchstones.

“The … reality here is that a post-racial/colorblind society is unrealizable at this point in history because the discourse of white normalcy relies on the idea of black abnormality for its cultural capital,” he asserted.

For example, he noted, the public generally associates welfare with the “black poor, and particularly unwed black mothers” – in reality, however, the majority of welfare recipients are white.

Nevertheless, Ikard is optimistic about the future for his children. “However idealistic it may be, I feel an incredible obligation to improve the society in which my children live: to make it a place in which they are seen and heard as human beings, irrespective of their imposed racial, gender, class, and sexual identities.”

The Africana Studies Program will certainly benefit from Ikard’s work toward this vision.

DONETTE FRANCIS Associate Professor and

Director of American Studies

DAVID IKARD Professor and Director

of Africana Studies

12 FALL 2014

I M PA C T F U L A N D I N T E R E S T I N G R E S E A R C H F R O M T H E C O L L E G E O F A R T S & S C I E N C E S

The Power of Making AmendsProfessor of Psychology Michael McCullough Probes Psychological Processes that Make Forgiveness Happen

Victims of wrongdoing are more likely to forgive and forget when their transgressors apologize, offer compensation and take responsibility for their actions.

A recent study led by Professor of Psychology Michael McCullough shows that these “peacemaking” behaviors make the transgressor seem more valuable as a relationship partner – and cause the victim to feel less at risk of getting hurt again.

“All of the things that people are motivated to do when they have harmed someone they care about really do appear to be effective at helping victims forgive and get over their anger,” McCullough said.

For the study, 356 young men and women reflected on a transgression they had experienced, completing questionnaires as well as an interview about the incident and their feelings toward the person who had harmed them. The participants also prepared a speech about the transgression, which they delivered into a video camera, as if the camera were the transgressor.

Finally, the participants completed an online survey to measure forgiveness over a three-week period. They chose from a list of statements about their transgressors such as “I’m trying to keep as much distance between us as possible,” “I’m going to get even,” “he/she wants our conflict to be over,” and “he/she does not intend to wrong me again,” among others.

FACULTYRESEARCH

The findings show that the extent to which a transgressor offered conciliatory gestures to their victims was directly proportional to the extent to which those victims forgave over time. Conciliatory gestures also appeared to change the victim’s perceptions about the relationship and the transgressor.

“People often think that evolution designed people to be mean, violent, and selfish, but humans need relationship partners, so natural selection probably also gave us tools to help us restore important relationships after they have been damaged by conflict,” McCullough said.

The study, “Conciliatory gestures promote human forgiveness and reduce anger,” was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

‘Vocal Fry’ and the WorkplaceAssociate Professor of Political Science Casey Klofstad Finds that Creaky, Low-Pitched Voices Give Women a Negative Image

A form of speech known as vocal fry that is low in pitch and creaky sounding is increasingly common among young American women. However, vocal fry is perceived negatively, particularly in a professional context.

A study led by Associate Professor of Political Science Casey Klofstad finds that women who speak in vocal fry are perceived as less attractive, less competent, less educated, less trustworthy – and ultimately less hirable.

“Our results show that the vocal fry fad is a hindrance to young women who are trying to find work,” said Klofstad.

For the study, the researchers recorded seven young adult females and seven young adult males speaking the phrase “thank you for considering me for this opportunity” in both their normal tone of voice and in vocal fry.

The 800 study participants (400 women and 400 men) listened to the pairs of recordings, and were asked to choose whether the person speaking in vocal fry

or normal voice was the more educated, competent, trustworthy, and attractive of the pair. The study participants were also asked which person they would hire.

Participants selected the speakers of the normal voices more than 80% of the time. The study suggests that job candidates who use vocal fry are not preferred specifically because they are perceived as untrustworthy.

Interestingly, the study also shows that while vocal fry is perceived negatively in both male and female speakers, the negative association is stronger with women who use the affectation.

One explanation is that because women generally have higher voices than men, the lowering of voice pitch via vocal fry results in a sex-atypical voice pitch modulation for women.

“Previous studies show that when women try to lower the pitch of their voice they are perceived as less attractive,” Klofstad said. “You could view the results we found as an extension of this to an economic context, whereby deliberate lowering of voice pitch in a sex-atypical manner by women through vocal fry results in negative perceptions by potential employers.”

The study is titled “Vocal fry may undermine the success of young women in the labor market.” It was published online in the open-access journal PLOS ONE (The Public Library of Science ONE).

Your High School GPA Could Affect Your IncomeProfessor of Sociology Michael French Studies Link Between Grades and Adult Earnings

High school grade point average is a strong predictor of future earnings.

A recent study led by Professor of Sociology Michael French shows that a 1-point increase in high school GPA raises annual earnings in adulthood by about 12

ARTS | SCIENCES 13

Michael French, Professor of Sociology

percent for men and 14 percent for women.“Conventional wisdom is that academic

performance in high school is important for college admission, but this is the first study to clearly demonstrate the link between high school GPA and labor market earnings many years later,” said French, director of the Health Economics Research Group.

Because the data indicate that women have significantly higher high school GPAs, but men have significantly higher annual earnings, the researchers analyzed men and women separately. For both genders, however, the study also finds that a 1-point increase in GPA doubles the probability of completing college (from 21 percent to 42 percent).

The study used multiple waves of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health. This included high school records, along with demographic and background information from more than 10,000 males and females. Educational attainment and income information was obtained when the respondents were between 24 and 34 years of age, approximately ten years after high school graduation.

“High school guidance counselors and teachers can use these findings to highlight the importance of doing well in high school for both short-term (college admission) and longer-term (earnings as an adult) goals,” French said.

The study is titled “What you do in high school matters: High school GPA, educational attainment, and labor market earnings as a young adult.” It was published in the Eastern Economic Journal.

Wasps and Social AcceptanceBiologist Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy Finds that Wasps are More Easily Accepted into Colonies When Both the Individual and the Group are Young

Observing how communities of wasps develop can provide insights into the evolution of sociality in animals, and possibly humans.

A recent study led by Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy, a lecturer in the Department of Biology, explores acceptance of individuals not related to each other in colonies of social wasps (Mischocyttarus Mexicanus). The colonies are made up exclusively of female wasps.

During the initial period of colony establishment, nest-switching is common. Individual wasps try to join other colonies, and existing members have to decide whether to accept or reject them.

“If non-nestmates are accepted, they may either become a worker in the colony or instead attempt to take over the reproductive-dominant role, steal, or cannibalize the colony's offspring,” said Mora-Kepfer Uy. “Females are, therefore, trying to balance the potential benefits of having additional help with the possible costs of new members acting selfishly.”

According to the study, young non-nestmates were accepted more often than old ones, and they were more frequently accepted into young colonies than in late colonies.

“The findings imply that the effect of the social context and immediate needs of a group mediate social acceptance in these

flexible societies,” said Mora-Kepfer Uy. “These factors may help us understand changes in the composition of other complex animals groups, including human societies.”

The study is titled “Context-dependent acceptance of non-nestmates in a primitively eusocial insect.” The findings are published in the journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

Tiny Submarines Make Cell DeliveryProfessor of Chemistry Francisco Raymo Explores the Use of Nanoparticles to Deliver Molecules to Target Cells

As more medical treatment options are designed around very small devices, scientists are developing nanoparticles that can deliver drugs to specific cells in the human body.

A team of researchers led by Professor of Chemistry Francisco Raymo has created nanoparticles that can self-assemble, trapping complementary guest molecules within their structure. Like tiny submarines, these versatile nanocarriers navigate in the watery environment surrounding cells and transport the guest molecules through the membrane of living cells to deliver their cargo.

“The ability to deliver distinct species inside cells independently and force them to interact exclusively in the intracellular environment can evolve into a valuable strategy to activate drugs inside cells,” said Raymo.

The nanocarriers are 15 nanometers in diameter.

“The size of these nanoparticles, their dynamic character, and the fact that the reactions take place under normal biological conditions (at ambient temperature and neutral environment) makes these nanoparticles an ideal vehicle for the controlled activation of therapeutics directly inside the cells,” Raymo said.

The study, “Intracellular guest exchange between dynamic supramolecular hosts,” was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

14 FALL 2014

recent PCAST report found that fewer than 40% of students who enter college intending to major in a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) field actually complete a degree in these areas. Raising this percentage from 40% to 50%, it says, would create an influx of more than 700,000 new scientists.

The government science advisory group offers five recommendations to help American universities retain students in the STEM fields. A key proposal: replace standard introductory laboratory courses with discovery-based research classes.

“Traditional introductory laboratory courses generally do not capture the creativity of STEM disciplines,” the report, Engage to Excel, states. “They often involve repeating classical experiments to reproduce known results, rather than engaging students in experiments with the possibility of true discovery.”

The College of Arts & Sciences is leading efforts to offer innovative and participatory introductory science laboratory courses that allow students to “discover knowledge, not just be receptacles of knowledge,” according to Professor of Biology and UM’s Assistant Provost of Undergraduate Research and Community Outreach Michael Gaines.

“From grade school to grad school, students drop out of the sciences because they are not engaged,” Gaines said.

He explained that, at UM, the traditional “cookbook” approach in laboratory courses – where there is a known outcome – is being replaced by authentic research. Small groups of six students work with faculty members on projects related to their research.

Mid-way through the semester, students switch and work with a different professor. Gaines said this allows students in UM’s intro-level biology courses to “do authentic research as a group, alongside a faculty member, where the answer is not known” in advance. The labs are led by teams consisting of faculty, advanced graduate students and advanced undergraduates.

Early exposure to authentic research is an extremely effective strategy to keep students in STEM fields. Among students who have conducted research in these innovative labs, “persistence rates in completing a STEM degree are 20% higher, and they are twice as likely to do an independent research project later in their university experience compared to those students in traditional labs,” Gaines said. “Research blurs disciplinary boundaries, frees students to learn different areas in a hands-on manner, and creates freedom to explore how disciplines are integrated.”

AMERICA IS FACING A CRIT ICAL SHORTAGE OF FUTURE SCIENTISTS – ABOUT

1 MILL ION OVER THE NEXT DECADE, ACCORDING TO ESTIMATES BY THE

PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL OF ADVISORS ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (PCAST) .

STEM Education Innovations Open the Doors to Research and Discovery

TEACHING TOMORROW’S

SCIENTISTS

ARTS | SCIENCES 15

“Flipping the classroom” in lecture-hall settings is also an effective way to reach “a different generation of students, who are more active learners,” Gaines said. “Students do a lot of background work at home, and interact in the classroom with faculty and do group learning to develop critical thinking skills.”

College of Arts & Sciences Dean Leonidas Bachas said, “STEM education continues to grow in importance, at every level. Projects of this kind, focusing on how we teach our STEM courses, not just what we teach in them, are critical to make sure that undergraduate research takes place early on among our students – a necessary strategy if we want to yield the scientists and educated workforce we need for an innovative tomorrow.”

The College of Arts & Sciences has received significant support for these STEM teaching innovations from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), which just awarded a five-year, $1.5-milion grant to continue the program and expand it to integrate chemistry into the early-engagement, research-based lab model.

Gaines said, “HHMI has been a catalyst bringing educators together to discuss innovative pedagogy. It is a major force in curricular reform.” The Institute has been funding projects at UM for more than 20 years.

A portion of the HHMI funding will be used to “export” this cutting-edge STEM teaching program to Miami Dade College (MDC), where 85% of students are from groups that are under-represented in the sciences. UM graduate students will teach research-based laboratory courses at MDC using the innovative methods developed on campus.

Since 1998, HHMI has awarded more than $935 million in grants to 274 public and private colleges and universities to support science education. UM is one of 37 research universities to receive a grant in the 2014 cycle.

The math education sequence is also ripe for innovation. “Math is the universal language of science, and math is an important tool in research,” Gaines explained. However, the typical calculus track may not have the content that is most relevant to pre-health and other science students. Gaines said that, in the future, he hopes some students may be able to replace a calculus course with statistics, or other math classes that may be more useful in their subsequent science courses.

There also are plans to expand the program to offer “studio physics” opportunities that integrate biology and chemistry into small-group physics labs.

With the continued support of our faculty, friends, and alumni, the future looks bright for STEM education in the College.

STEM Education Innovations Open the Doors to Research and Discovery

HANDS-ON SCIENCEStudents conduct experiments in small groups in an introductory

biology course. UM offers students opportunities to conduct authentic research early in their college careers, increasing the chances that they

will complete degrees in STEM fields and pursue careers in science.The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is an ad-visory group of the nation’s leading scientists and engineers who directly advise the President. PCAST makes policy recommendations in the many areas where understanding of science, technology and innovation is key to strengthening the economy and forming sound policy.

The first PCAST was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, and each President since has appointed his own advisory committee of scientists, engineers and health professionals.

Engage to Excel: Producing One Million Additional College Graduates with De-grees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics was presented to President Obama in 2012.

The report states that the U.S. will need to train approximately 1 million more STEM professionals than it is on track to produce, in order to retain its pre-eminence in science and technology. This will require increasing the number of students who receive undergraduate STEM degrees by about 34% per year.

According to the report, “Better teaching methods are needed by university faculty to make courses more inspiring, provide more help to students facing mathemati-cal challenges, and to create an atmosphere of a community of STEM learners.”

The five overarching recommendations in the report focus on the first two years of college, “the most critical to the retention and recruitment of STEM majors.”

1. Catalyze widespread adoption of empirically validated teaching practices.

2. Advocate and provide support for replacing standard laboratory courses with discovery-based research courses.

3. Launch a national experiment in postsecondary mathematics education to address the math preparation gap.

4. Encourage partnerships among stakeholders to diversify pathways to STEM careers.

5. Create a Presidential Council on STEM Education with leadership from the academic and business communities to provide strategic leadership for transformative and sustainable change in STEM un-dergraduate education.

UM is taking a leadership role in addressing recommendation 2, implementing an experiential learning format for introductory biology and chemistry classes that allows students to conduct authentic, open-ended research in small groups, working closely with faculty.

PCAST supports such strategies, which “make individual ownership of projects and discovery feasible in a classroom setting, engaging students in authentic STEM experiences and enhancing learning and, therefore, they provide models for what should be more widely implemented.”

ENGAGE TO EXCEL

AN UNCONVENTIONAL

LINGUISTIC OPPORTUNITY

FOR CITIZENS OF THE WORLD

16 FALL 2014

And food – tables overflowing with a dazzling array of dishes: Croatian cheese and crackers, Egyptian rice and lentil stew. Samosas from India, seaweed rolls from Korea. Greek spinach pies and flaky desserts. Persian celery and rice.

There’s something for everyone at the annual International Multicultural Night, organized each fall by students participating in the Directed Independent Language Study (DILS) program.

DILS gives students opportunities to study languages not offered by the University of Miami or the College’s Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. It is an individually directed program, where students work alone or in small groups directly with native speakers, known as Language Partners, of their target languages. DILS scouts and selects Language Partners from anywhere in the university or local community.

Just like DILS itself, International Multicultural Night is “all up to the students,” said Dr. Maria Kosinski, who has directed the program since its inception in 2009.

“We offer students who really want to learn a language that is not offered an opportunity,” Kosinski said. “The philosophy behind DILS is for students to achieve basic levels of linguistic competence and broader cultural awareness as they study less commonly taught languages.”

ARTS | SCIENCES 17

“We encourage students all the time to ‘think global’; that implies, among other things, the ability to communicate with the people of other countries, of other cultures, in their own language.”

— DR. MARIA KOSINSKI, DIRECTOR OF THE DILS PROGRAM

Musical performances in Swahili, Russian,

Korean, Hindi and Arabic. Travel presentations

showcasing the exotic beauty of Croatia,

Tanzania, South Korea and Vietnam. Persian

poems, Korean dances…

When it started, DILS offered just three choices: Haitian Creole, Levantine Arabic and Russian. Now, students have studied more than 30 different languages – everything from indigenous Central American languages to European, Asian and African tongues.

University of Miami Executive Vice President and Provost Thomas J. LeBlanc said, “The Directed Independent Language Program dramatically expands the universe of language studies available to UM students. It is important that students be allowed to follow their curiosity, and DILS allows them that opportunity.”

Many DILS languages are considered critical to national security, including Arabic, Hindi, Korean, Persian/Farsi, Punjabi, Russian, Swahili, Thai and Turkish.

“We encourage students all the time to ‘think global’; that implies, among other things, the ability to communicate with the people of other countries, of other cultures, in their own language,” Kosinski said, adding that this is important even in countries where “we are told ‘everyone speaks English.’”

DILS is open to students of all majors, and in any year of study. “I am always fascinated at the number of science majors taking DILS

languages,” Kosinski said.Eric Ardman, a microbiology/immunology major minoring in chemistry,

has been studying Vietnamese through DILS for two years. He has traveled in Vietnam during each of the past two summers.

“I went into the trip with an open mind and was determined to at least try and communicate with locals,” he said. “I ended up accomplishing more than I ever thought I could.”

He was able to ask simple questions – Where am I? How much does this cost? – and make “small talk” with people he met. His skills were particularly useful when he visited a remote part of the country where English is not spoken.

“Finding food, a guesthouse and the historical landmarks were challenges that my language skills helped me overcome,” he said. “By the end of my trip, I felt a connection to Vietnam that I know I would not have been able to make without knowing some Vietnamese. I felt like I was not just passing by for the view, but that I had a fuller experience, a more complete immersion and understanding of what it is like to live in Vietnam.”

Korean Language Partners from the DILS program enjoy dinner at a Korean restaurant in Miami.

18 FALL 2014

For more information about DILS, please visit http://www.as.miami.edu/dils/.

“I frequently discussed Turkish politics and pop culture with my Language Partner, Nurbay Irmak, and those conversations certainly gave me greater insight into Turkish culture.”

— ANDREW SZAREJKO, A.B., ’12

Students who wish to gain this immersion and understanding must be disciplined and willing to work hard.

The DILS application process is extensive, and crystal clear. The application itself states: DILS requires motivation, a strong sense of commitment and self-sufficiency on the part of students. There is no regular teacher to provide clarification, daily structure or graded feedback on progress.

Instead, students work directly with a Language Partner, a native speaker of their target language, meeting for one hour twice per week to speak and learn. All sessions take place completely in the target language.

The Language Partners are a key aspect of DILS. They guide students through speaking and listening practice, helping them to use the language and giving them opportunities to “enter the world of the language, and implicitly of the new culture, they are studying,” Kosinski said.

Federico de Faveri, who studied Russian through DILS, said his Language Partner gave him an “outstanding” base in the language. “I think that I would never have gotten (strong evaluation) results without her.”

Because consistent conversation is so important in language learning, students are expected to attend every session, and to engage in other activities related to the language and culture. This includes organizing conversation groups, attending plays and films related to their language of study, maintaining blogs and podcasts in the target language, and creating videos.

Every two weeks, they submit progress reports to Kosinski, who visits practice sessions and communicates openly with both the students and the Language Partners. She is a hands-on leader, who is very involved with all aspects of the DILS program.

Above: DILS students wear traditional clothing at the International-Multicultural Night event. Center: A student performs a customary folk dance. Top Right: DILS student Jennifer North practices Quechua with her Language Partner via Skype. Right: A Korean singing group performs at the DILS International-Multicultural Night.

ARTS | SCIENCES 19

Although students do not receive academic credit or grades for their DILS study, their participation is noted on their transcripts.

They also participate in an oral final examination at the end of each semester, administered by an outside evaluator from a higher education institution where their target language is taught.

Senior biology major Sandra Diez – who is participating in the UGalapagos program this semester – studied Persian/Farsi during her junior year. She said, “The evaluations at the end of the semester are a great help because it truly shows you how much you know and which areas need more work.”

Jennifer North – a junior majoring in Latin American Studies and Spanish with minors in Portuguese and psychology – studied Quechua, a language spoken by indigenous peoples in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia, through DILS.

“The DILS experience is extremely rich in a way that you could never get by studying from a book or online,” she said. “To be able to get a first-person perspective from somebody who spoke Quechua as a child. And for her to talk about the culture and customs, it becomes much more than just language study.”

Kosinski said, “It seems so obvious, yet I cannot promote the concept enough. The personal growth and the potential for career growth that come through the encounter with another language and culture are significant.”

Nikhil Ghorpade, a 2014 UM graduate, studied Swahili through DILS for one year with his language partner before participating in a study-abroad program in Tanzania.

“With Muchiri’s help, I was able to embark on my African journey

with a working knowledge of spoken Swahili, and enough reading and writing comprehension to boot,” Ghorpade said.

Kosinski noted that she has seen an increase in students learning the language of their destination countries before participating in study abroad programs. “Students realize they should have some exposure to the language in advance,” she noted.

Ghorpade practiced Swahili with everyone he met in Tanzania. “I was the only one able to really speak with the Tanzanians. Although everyone we met was very friendly to non-speakers, I was able to experience, and understand, a whole different side of Tanzania than my peers,” he said, adding, “DILS had a huge impact on my academic career and will continue to help me in the future.”

Indeed, DILS has helped many College students to earn distinguished national and international awards and scholarships.

Kefryn Reese, UM’s director of prestigious awards and fellowships, works with students to maximize their candidacy for nationally competitive academic support programs.

She sees “a connection between DILS participants and success in nationally competitive awards programs which focus on international relations and language acquisition, like the Fulbright, Pickering, Rangel, Boren, Carnegie and Critical Language Scholarship programs.”

“Many national awards programs seek visionaries and people who are willing to challenge the status quo in order to make a difference,” Reese explained. “So, besides the fact that multilingualism is an increasingly important skill for leaders in today’s society, DILS attracts students who tend to want to learn a less commonly taught language for a specific academic or professional goal; they tend to be think-outside-the-box types.”

Andrew Szarejko, A.B. ’12, political science and international studies, is in his first semester of the political science Ph.D. program at Georgetown University. He is studying comparative government and international relations, focusing on Turkey – a country DILS helped him to discover.

After studying abroad in Turkey through UM’s exchange program with Koç University outside Istanbul, Szarejko knew he wanted to return to the fascinating country. When he got back to campus, he started studying Turkish through DILS.

This basic foundation helped him earn a competitive Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) from the U.S. Department of State and spend a summer studying the language in an intensive program in Turkey. He continued with DILS the next school year, and earned a second CLS the following summer.

“I first studied abroad in Turkey in the spring of 2011, but I eventually returned in the summers of 2012 and 2013 on Critical Language Scholarships,” Szarejko said. “DILS was especially helpful in the 2011-2012 academic year, as it ensured that my rudimentary Turkish did not get too rusty, and it demonstrated my continued commitment to learning the language. If not for DILS, I might not have received those scholarships.”

Beyond becoming proficient in the language, Szarejko also saw sides of Turkey that most people living outside the country rarely experience.

“I frequently discussed Turkish politics and pop culture with my Language Partner, Nurbay Irmak, and those conversations certainly gave me greater insight into Turkish culture. One of my favorite topics was the singer Tarkan – mainly because I knew how much Nurbay hated his music, ” Szarejko added.

Diez concurred, “The DILS program is a great opportunity for college kids to learn a new language, but also about countries, cultures and traditions.”

Kosinski said, “Students recognize the value and significance of languages for their personal lives, but also for their future careers. Studying languages can have a long-term impact in these areas, and on their world views.”

CLASSSPOTLIGHT T H I S F E AT U R E H I G H L I G H T S C O U R S E S T H AT A R E C R E AT I N G S O M E C A M P U S B U Z Z .

20 FALL 2014

A class on one of the most fascinating – and divisive – periods of American history is uniting the UM campus this semester.

More than 40 faculty and staff members will serve as visiting lecturers and panelists for The Sixties, a unique course team-taught by Associate Professor of English Joseph Alkana and

Professor of History Donald Spivey. The distinguished guest list includes UM President Donna E. Shalala,

who talks about her experience in the Peace Corps.“As a new college graduate in the early 1960s, I felt completely primed

and empowered to join the Peace Corps as a volunteer in Iran,” Shalala said. “I didn’t realize that the greatest lesson of my life was just beginning. Two years teaching in a remote area taught me more invaluable lessons than anything else that has happened afterwards; the ’60s class is the perfect place for me to be able to share those lessons with our UM students.”

Spivey called the 1960s “a period of great flux, turmoil, conflict and resolution.”

“The Vietnam War, urban unrest, gay liberation, the women’s movement, civil rights – all were happening at the same time,” he explained.

The guest speakers “provide an oral history of the 1960s,” Alkana said. “They share a whole range of experiences. Some were involved in civil rights protests, some fought in Vietnam, some were anti-war protesters.”

The more diverse perspectives, the more “spirited conversation,” Spivey said.

Taken together, the varied personal stories give students a sense of this important era – and the key role that college students and college-aged people played in the significant events that shaped the future of our nation.

“Many faculty were college students in the 1960s, and campuses were

centers for social activism,” said Alkana, who became involved in anti-war protests while he was still in high school. “It was a huge part of the lives of college students of the day.”

The class tells the tale of the times through a diverse reading list including: Dispatches, a 1977 memoir of the Vietnam War penned by correspondent Michael Herr 10 years after he returned from the front lines; the classic novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; and Takin’ it to the Streets: A Sixties Reader by Alexander Bloom and Wini Breines.

Alkana and Spivey also offer optional film screenings featuring Dr. Strangelove, American Graffiti, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Apocalypse Now and other standards.

No course on the 1960s could ignore the music that provided the era’s soundtrack.

“Music is a major part of the ’60s,” Spivey said. “We play music before the lectures and during all the breaks.”

He also convenes a ’60s band, which performs folk, jazz, rock and soul music for students during the last class session. He reaches out to all faculty and staff outside the Frost School of Music – looking for “closet musicians,” not professionals, he said – to join the group.

The professors pass out lyrics to the songs, and invite the students to sing along – ending the semester with an evening of peace and music, and creating a sense of community.

President Shalala hopes that the students will carry this spirit forward. “I tell students that to really learn about the world, they need to be part of

it. Service shapes our values, harnesses our passions, and, most definitely, makes a real difference,” she said.

The Sixties course is only offered during the fall semester every two years.

THE SIXTIES ARE BACKUM STUDENTS RELIVE A HISTORIC DECADE

From Left: The UM campus in the 1960s. Cheerleaders. A visit from Senator Edward Kennedy. A student types in her Eaton Residence Hall room.

ARTS | SCIENCES 21

PHILANTHROPY GIVING TO UM

TO LEARN WAYS YOU CAN MAKE A BEQUEST, OR FOR SAMPLE

BEQUEST LANGUAGE, CONTACT:

Cynthia L. Beamish, Executive DirectorOffice of Estate and Gift Planning

Phone: (305) 284-4342 Email: um.plannedgiving@miami.edu

IT’S EASY TO LEAVE A LEGACY!

You don’t have to be wealthy to leave a legacy – any size gift can make an impact for generations to come.

By naming the College of Arts & Sciences as a beneficiary in your will or trust, you can support the College, the humanities or your favorite department or program.

A bequest in your will or trust allows you to fulfill your philanthropic goals while minimizing your taxable estate and simplifying the probate process. You also retain full use and control of your assets during your life.

A bequest is easy – just ask your attorney to draft a codicil to your existing will, or if you don’t have a will, now is a good time to have one prepared. A bequest to the College of Arts & Sciences can be a specific dollar amount or a percentage of your residual estate or trust.

&engage F U T U R E G E N E R A T I O N S

inspire

You can also get more information by visting our website: miami.edu/plannedgiving

Ripoll devoted his life to studying and writing about Martí. As a professor at Queen’s College, CUNY, Ripoll received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and published extensively, well into his 80s. Scores of Ripoll’s works – including manuscripts, books, papers, and pamphlets – are conserved in the Cuban Heritage Collection of the University of Miami Libraries.

“He wanted to make the education he had available to anyone,” said Fernando and Beatriz Jiménez of their dear friend Carlos Ripoll. Carlos and his wife Herminia (“Mina”) were close companions of the Jiménez family for nearly 30 years; the two couples bonded over their love of Spanish literature and culture.

So they were not surprised when the Ripolls left a bequest to establish the José Martí Scholarship for Students Enrolled in Humanities at the University of Miami College of Arts & Sciences. José Martí is renowned for his role in helping Cuba gain its independence from Spain, but also for his love of freedom and equality.

Married for over 60 years, Carlos and Mina shared many interests and had an affinity for Cuba. They met in the society clubs in Havana, before coming to the U.S. in the early 1960s. Carlos found a true companion in Mina, who readily helped him in all of his work, said Beatriz Jiménez. “She was always there for him.” This included copyediting, and helping him publish his works.

Spanish literature was just one of the loves of the Ripolls. Carlos came to UM for a master’s degree in French, but also spoke Russian in addition to English and Spanish. After developing an interest in architecture, he designed and served as the builder of the high-rise where he and Mina lived. He

Carlos Ripoll, ’62, was one of the world’s leading scholars on José Martí, a legendary Cuban figure and important Latin American writer.

inspired B Y A L E G E N D T O L E A V E A

legacy in the humanities

enjoyed composing music, including writing a composition for the chorus of The Rubaiyat.

Because his interests were so varied, he chose to support the diverse humanities programs in UM’s College of Arts & Sciences.

According to Fernando Jiménez, “Carlos was a very humble man and preferred to inspire others.”

Like Marti, the Ripolls will inspire future generations of students with the scholarship, created through their estate plans. This crucial gift comes at a time when there has been a decline in federal funding for the humanities. The Ripolls wanted to affirm the importance of the humanities to solving 21st century problems.

The José Martí Scholarship will begin aiding students pursuing a major in Modern Languages and Literatures, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Art, History, Anthropology, Classics and Theatre this year.

Powered by philanthropy and compelled by legacy-making alumni like Carlos Ripoll, the liberal arts and humanities will be academically stronger than ever for our new freshman class.

Carlos and Herminia Ripoll ontheir wedding day, November 3, 1945.

ANDY GOLDENBERG, B.F.A. ’01, theatre, is an actor and writer living in Los Angeles, California. His YouTube channel, Goldentusk, has received over 42 million views and his work has been screened on TV, webcasts, and once, in a Paris museum. Andy recently released season 1 of his new series called Bad Timing, which Entertainment Weekly called “a new obsession,” and “the best zombie webseries everrr!” In addition to commercial and television guest star appearances, Goldenberg recently opened the newly constructed Wallis Annenberg Beverly Hills Theatre with a role in Parfumerie. He regularly performs with improv group Freedom Snatch.

Scan this QR code with your smartphone to visit our Facebook page online and keep track of Hurricane classmates.

TRACKINGHURRICANES CLASS NOTES | ALUMNI PROFILES

Information on The Death Maze is available at http://sbprabooks.com/RichardParnes/. The proceeds of the first 1,000 copies of the republished The Death Maze will be donated to the University of Miami.

JACK M. GIBBONS, B.S. ’74, M.Ed. ’76, has retired as Director, Residential Education, at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is now Executive Director of GAIN Consulting in Santa Clarita, California.

60s _______________________________

CRAIG SMITH, A.B. ’67, history, recently published a book of poetry, Walking Through the Years, Poetry for Life and Love. He invites his readers to share his thoughts and experiences though his poetry, and hopes that after reading it, they will come away with a deeper understanding of life.

70s_______________________________

ROBERT B. WEAVER, B.S. ’70, biology, was recently elected president of the Foundation of the (Virginia) State Arboretum. The Foundation supports the mission of the Arboretum and Blandy Experimental Farm, an environmental sciences field station of the University of Virginia.

MORTON R. LAITNER, A.B. ’71, political science and education, is a short story writer, teacher and attorney. Laitner started his law career practicing family law with the Baton Rouge Legal Society and Legal Services of Greater Miami and then practiced public health law with the Miami-Dade County Health Department for 35 years until his retirement. He is on the Board of Directors of the South Florida Writers Association and currently teaches Law and Ethics at the master’s level at Barry University and Florida International University. He is the author of 13 books and recently published his first memoir, A Hebraic Obsession, which tells the story of his journey from childhood to retirement as he obsesses about his father, the Holocaust that nearly took his father’s life, Judaism and life.

RICHARD PARNES, B.F.A. ’74, drama, has been in the telecommunications field for 36 years and is now Senior Operations Manager for Black Box Network Services in the Los Angeles area. Having never lost his passion or creative desire, he kept a steady pace in writing after acting was out of the picture. Although it took a great many years to edit and re-edit his first book, The Death Maze, it has just been republished in time for the release of The Death Maze, Book 2 next year. Ironically, this only took one year to write, while Parnes was also working on three other books.

80s_______________________________

NAN MARKOWITZ, A.B. ’81, English, was recently elected as an Active Member of the Orange Bowl Committee. Created in 1935, the Orange Bowl Committee is a non-profit sports organization that promotes and serves South Florida year-round to inspire youth, engage the community and enhance the South Florida economy.

JANET ROY (maiden name Connaughton; formerly Humphreys), B.F.A. ’82, graphic design, married David Roy in 2009 and worked in commercial printing until February 2014, when she and David started their own publishing business with three magazines in the Palm Beach Gardens area. The magazines are produced by Best Version Media. She has a grown son and daughter, a stepdaughter and one grandson.

90s_______________________________

ANDREW JACKSON, A.B. ’92, is serving as Assistant Secretary for Management at the U.S. Department of Education. In this capacity, he is responsible for the overall direction and leadership of the Department’s administrative functions. He was appointed to this role by President Obama in March 2014.

DAVID BELL, A.B. ’98, was recently promoted to Vice President & Senior Counsel at Marriott International, Inc., where he is an in-house litigation attorney. Last September, he and his wife, Elizabeth, welcomed the birth of Declan Peter Bell, their fourth child.

YOURNEWS Let your classmates know what is going on in your life. Share news about yourself in a future issue of Arts & Sciences magazine. Send your information—including the year you graduated, degree, and major—to Jessica Jacober, College of Arts & Sciences, University of Miami, P.O. Box 248004, Coral Gables, Florida 33124-4620 or via email to jrj27@miami.edu.

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22 FALL 2014

Three-time UM alumnus Dr. JAMES A. KUSHLAN, B.S. ’69 M.S. ’72 Ph.D. ’74, has published two new books on bird conservation in South Florida. A writer, scientist, educator, and conservationist, Kushlan is recognized for his expertise in the biology and conservation of waterbirds and wetlands.Birds of Fairchild brings together Kushlan’s knowledge with stunning photography by Kirsten Hines, to celebrate the birds and bird-friendly plants of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden. Kushlan and Hines also collaborated for Attracting Birds to South Florida Gardens, which provides practical, ecologically sound advice for creating landscapes that will appeal to the region’s birds.

DR. DAVID KRICSFELD, B.S. ’98, biology, is a family physician at Encompass Medical Group in Grandview, Missouri. He completed his residency at Research Medical Center. He attended medical school at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences. Kricsfeld also received an M.B.A. from Rockhurst University with a focus in Healthcare Leadership. His wife of eight years is Anya, and they have a five-year-old son, Mark. Kricsfeld enjoys spending time with his family, traveling and keeping current on world news.

00s _______________________________

SHIREEN LACKEY, A.B. ’00, was selected by the Department of Veterans Affairs to attend the Army’s Command and General Staff College as a civilian student, providing a valuable non-military perspective to Army officers training for leadership roles. She completed the program in June 2014, earning a master’s degree in military arts and science, and the prestigious General Colin L. Powell Interagency Award for Excellence. One week before graduating, she married classmate Major Brendan McEvoy.

LISA ALBERS, M.F.A. ’02, creative writing, recently published her first novel, Cat in the Flock. Albers is career author who has written numerous mystery-driven computer game series, such as Final Cut, Mystery Trackers and Off the Record.

HARRIS KOROGLU, Esq., B.S. ’02, biology, J.D. ’06, is a partner at the law firm of Shutts & Bowen. His practice includes all aspects of creditor representation in bankruptcy litigation, reorganization and liquidation, with a significant emphasis upon representation of financial institutions. He has also previously represented Chapter 11 trustees, federal court-appointed receivers and managed multiple interrelated bankruptcy adversary proceedings and receivership ancillary proceedings. He was recently recognized by Florida Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in the area of bankruptcy/creditors’ rights. Harris lives in Miami and is happily married to his wife, Megan, with whom he has a 3-year old son and an infant daughter.

NATALIA SYLVESTER, A.B. ’06, creative writing, has published her first novel, Chasing the Sun. She is a freelance writer in Austin, Texas.

Harm J. de Blij, a giant in the geography community, passed away on March 25, 2014. He served as chair of the Department of Geography for many years – and put the Department “on the map,” according to his longtime colleague, Senior Professor Peter Muller.

de Blij brought geography to the masses, advocating for geographic education in schools, and serving as a consultant for media outlets including National Geographic magazine and “Good Morning America.”

He was an active member of the National Council for Geographic Education and the Association of American Geographers, which presented him with its highest honor, the George J. Miller Award, in 2006. de Blij wrote more than 30 books, including Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts, which is widely used in high-school and college classrooms today.

de Blij was born in the Netherlands in 1935. He earned his B.Sc. from the University of the Witwatersrand, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Northwestern University. In addition to his tenure at UM, de Blij also taught at Marshall University, Rhode Island College, Colorado School of Mines, Grand Valley State University, North Carolina State University, and Michigan State University, where he was the John A. Hannah Professor at the time of his death.

Professor Emeritus of Philosophy Leonard S. Carrier passed away on June 26, 2014. Carrier was a longtime faculty member in the College, teaching thousands of students during more than 30 years at UM. He advised several generations of students at all levels, directed undergraduate and master’s theses, and provided guidance for Ph.D. dissertations.

A central member of the Department of Philosophy, Carrier spent several years as its director of graduate studies. He was the Department’s representative on the Faculty Senate, of which he was vice chair.

Carrier taught a wide range of classes, including metaphysics, the philosophy of language, and the history of philosophy. His books include: Experience and the Objects of Perception, Mortal Souls: A Neo-Aristotelian Theory of the Human Psyche and The Essential Tie Between Knowing and Believing: A Casual Account of Knowledge and Epistemic Reasoning. He also penned one novel, Bet on the River.

He earned his A.B. and M.A. degrees in philosophy from UM, and his Ph.D. from Stanford University. Carrier taught briefly at Macquarie University and the University of South Florida before joining the UM faculty in 1969; he retired in 2000.

Carrier was a veteran of the United States Air Force, and an active tennis player who served as a USTA official.

HARM J. DEBLIJFormer Chair, Department of Geography & Regional Studies

LEONARD S. CARRIERProfessor Emeritus, Department of Philosophy

FACULTYOBITUARIES

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ARTS | SCIENCES 23

LIZMARIE MALDONADO, B.S. ’09, mathematics-statistics, is currently a Senior Research Analyst at the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics on the University of Miami Medical Campus. Liz is an avid yogi and hopes to be part of a teacher training later this year so that she can be certified to teach yoga.

KATIE GUZMAN, A.B. ’09, political science, began working at the University of Texas Medical Branch as a Community Health Worker for its Community Health Program in April 2014. The Community Health Program’s mission is to provide education, direction, and individual support to the chronically ill and underserved communities. Guzman educates and advocates for patients enrolled in the program. She is in the process of obtaining her certification as a community health worker. She moved to Houston, Texas, from Miami in January 2014 through a permanent change of station via the United States Air Force, where her husband, fellow Hurricane alum, DONOVAN HUTCHINS, B.B.A. ’10, serves as a Captain.

JENNIFER URS SULLIVAN, A.B. ’07, psychology, J.D. ’12, has become a social media sensation, after Sebastian the Ibis walked her down the aisle at her recent wedding.

CASEVENTS2014-15

NOVEMBERthe lowe art museum Transformative Visions: Works by Haitian Artists from the Permanent CollectionExhibition Dates: November 8, 2014 – January 11, 2015

Symposium: November 8, 2:00 p.m.

Curated by Assistant Professor of Anthropology Louis Herns Marcelin and Associate Professor of History Kate Ramsey, this exhibition will spotlight the diversity of Haitian artistic production, and the stylistic and thematic dialogue of Haitian artists across generations and national boundaries. Featuring paintings, sculptures and textile art from the Lowe Art Museum’s permanent collection, it will center on transformation as an artistic principle, process, and potential of these works – one that enables viewers to see Haiti and the world in new ways.

CALENDAR

FEBRUARYjerry herman ring theatre

The Women by Clare Boothe Luce Performances: February 18 – 28, 2015

DECEMBERum wynwood gallery Annual Cane Fair in conjunction with Art Basel/Miami BeachExhibition Dates: December 4 – 26, 2014

Reception: December 13, 2:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

In honor of Art Basel in Miami Beach, the Department of Art and Art History presents the 7th Annual Cane Fair, featuring artwork by UM students earning their master’s degrees in fine arts. Works on display include photography, sculpture, ceramics, painting and more.

Admission to the Wynwood Gallery is free, by appointment only. For more information, visit the Department of Art and Art History at www.as.miami.edu/art.

Admission to the Lowe Art Museum is $10 for adults, and $5 for students and senior citizens. Admission is free for UM students, faculty and staff. For more information, visit www.lowemuseum.org.

This all-female classic comedy offers sharp commentary on the lives, relationships and power struggles of Manhattan socialites in the 1930s. Filled with gossip, loud personalities and witty comedy, this play is sure to entertain.

Single regular admission tickets are $25; student tickets are $10. To purchase tickets online, visit web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/1871.

APRILjerry herman ring theatre

Oklahoma! by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II Performances: April 15–26, 2015

Oklahoma! tells the love story of Curly, a handsome cowboy, and Laurie, a winsome farm girl, at the turn of the century. Audiences will be humming long after they leave this cheerful musical.

Single regular admission tickets are $25; student tickets are $10. To purchase tickets online, visit web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe.c/9911529.

24 FALL 2014

speci al lecture

center for the humanities Henry King Stanford Distinguished Professor Lecture: Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel: 500 YearsEvent: April 9, 2015, 7:00 p.m.

William E. Wallace is the Barbara Murphy Bryant Distinguished Professor of Art History at Washington University in St. Louis. An internationally recognized authority on Michelangelo and his contemporaries, Wallace has written more than 80 articles and six books on the famous Italian Renaissance artist.

The lecture is open to the public and free of charge. For more information, visit humanities.miami.edu.

Edouard Duval-Carrié, United States (born Haiti), b. 1954, Trois feuilles (Three Leaves), ca. 1998, mixed media and artist-made frame. Gift of Marilyn Holifield and Marvin Holloway, 2002.45

”I AM THE ARTS“

”I AM THE SCIENCES“

“ T O G E T H E R , W E A R E T H E C O L L E G E ”

From Math to Philosophy to Chemistry to Theatre, the College of Arts & Sciences IMPACTS

every student as they take the first, vital steps on their ACADEMIC JOURNEY through

the University of Miami. YOUR GIFT MATTERS. The best way to SUPPORT undergraduate

RESEARCH, community ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS, and EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE is through

an ANNUAL GIFT to the College or a department/program of your choice.

Help bolster our position as a top-tier university at www.as.miami.edu/donate

SUPPORT OUR FUTURE ARTISTS, SCIENTISTS, SCHOLARS AND

LEADERS TODAY.

Brian Austin Day, Class of 2016 and Shirin Razdan, Class of 2014: Brian learned new skills in his Glass Blowing class, and likes to spear fish in his free time. Shirin entered the College with a perfect SAT score! She loves to dance, and started at the Miller School of Medicine this fall.

THEN

& N

OW

Non-ProfitOrganizationU.S. PostagePAIDPermit No. 438Miami, FL

1252 Memorial Drive | Ashe Building 227Coral Gables, FL 33121-9965

Since UM opened its doors in 1926, faculty and students have taken advantage of our lush South Florida location to study tropical vegetation. In the 1950s, faculty in the Department of Botany – such as Professor Taylor Alexander, showing students details on a leaf – observed plant specimens in greenhouses on campus (left photo). Today, the John C. Gifford Arboretum is an outstanding resource for research and learning. A collection of important tress and plants organized by biological order, the Arboretum began with 350 specimens donated from local, state and federal nurseries. It is named for Dr. John C. Gifford, an expert on tropical woods and former UM professor of tropical forestry. The Arboretum suffered

devastating losses in 2005, when Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma ripped through the tranquil grove, destroying almost half of the trees in the collection. Through the efforts of faculty in the Department of Biology (particularly Professor Carol Horvitz), the Arboretum has been restored to its educational and recreational glory. It hosts lectures, and a series of open-air concerts. And it is an excellent outdoor lab, where students can experience hands-on learning. Students in Professor and Cooper Fellow Leonel Sternberg’s medical botany class visit the Arboretum to investigate the therapeutic properties of plants (right photo). Next time you are on campus, come to the Arboretum to find peace and connect with nature!

PONDERING PLANTS