Eric Ringham, MPR commentary editor, and Toni Randolph, award-winning MPR journalist and editor for New Audiences, were guests in Rashné Jehangir and Na’im Madyun’s PsTL 1525W First Year Inquiry course. Jehangir and Madyun, associate professors in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, are co-teaching their sections of FYI with a thematic focus on Stories as Game Changers. Students are using iPads to film mini-documentaries around three themes: the American Dream, Home and Place, and Critical Moments in the Twin Cities.
The collaboration with MPR and the Ringham and Randolph visit provided students with the opportunity to gain insights about shaping a narrative, interviewing participants, and to have questions answered about their individual documentary topics. The mini-documentary assignment seeks to use iPad technology to invite students to explore critical issues in Twin Cities communities.
STEM Day Conference 2013
Save the Date!
February 14, 2013
University of Minnesota
Continuing Education and Conference Center
St. Paul, MN
The conference sessions will focus on building partnerships and resources that support and advance K12 STEM Education in Minnesota.
We proudly announce our keynote speaker, Dr. Anthony Murphy (pictured right), newly appointed director of The GLOBE Program. Prior to his current position, Dr. Murphy served as the executive director of the National Center for STEM Elementary Education at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Watch for registration and session information soon!
Allison speaks at St. Thomas School of Law
Rayla Allison, J.D., associate director and lecturer in the School of Kinesiology, recently gave a talk to the Sports and Entertainment Law Society at the University of St. Thomas. Her talk focused on on practicing law in the sport industry and common legal issues.
Konczak gives keynote lectures in Taiwan
Jürgen Konczak, Ph.D., professor of kinesiology and director of the Human Sensorimotor Control Laboratory, recently traveled to Taiwan on a five-day speaking tour where he delivered five lectures at four different universities throughout the island (Chang Gong University and National Taiwan Normal University in Taipeh; National Taichung University and National Cheng Kung University in Tainan).
Stoffregen and associates publish in Ecological Psychology
“Effects of Visual Tasks and Conversational Partner on Personal and Interpersonal Postural Activity,” by Thomas A. Stoffregen, M. Russell Giveans, Sebastian J. Villard, and Kevin Shockley, has been accepted for publication in Ecological Psychology. The experiments were conducted by Dr. Giveans as part of his doctoral project under the guidance of Professor Stoffregen. Dr. Villard served as a post-doctoral fellow in APAL in 2007-2009.
Undergraduate students awarded UROP for Spring 2013
Amy Malsch, Jennifer Webeler, and Hannah Walsh have each received a competitive award under the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) to conduct research under the mentorship of a School of Kinesiology faculty member.
Malsch and Webeler will work with Tom Stoffregen, Ph.D. Their research project concerns sexual dimorphism and susceptibility to motion sickness, and will be carried out in the Affordance Perception-Action Laboratory.
Walsh will join the Human Sensorimotor Control Laboratory and work with Jürgen Konczak, Ph.D. The title of her project is Implementing Feedback Control for a Passive Motion Apparatus. This apparatus is used in the lab to measure body awareness (proprioception).
Gao publishes paper on the impact of exergaming among children
Dr. Zan Gao, assistant professor in the School of Kinesiology, recently published an article as the lead author in the Journal of Exercise Science and Fitness on exergaming, which are activities involving exercise-based video games.
Dr. Chaoqun Huang, assistant professor at Wayland Baptist University (Texas) and former advisee of Gao, is the second author on the article. The other co-authors are previous visiting scholars from Shanghai, China.
Continue reading “Gao publishes paper on the impact of exergaming among children”
Yu, Chung, Hemingway, and Stoffregen published in Gait & Posture
Authors Yawen Yu, Hyun-Chae Chung, Lauren Hemingway, and professor of Kinesiologyr Dr. Thomas A. Stoffregen, were recently published in Gait & Posture. Their contribution is titled: “Standing body sway in women with and without morning sickness in pregnancy.”
Dr. Yu received her Ph.D., in kinesiology from the University of Minnesota, working in APAL under Stoffregen’s guidance. Dr. Chung spent a year in APAL as a visiting scholar. Ms. Hemingway was an undergraduate research assistant in APAL, where she was supported by a UROP award. She now works at 3M.
Ji delivers a trio of keynote lectures while in China
Li Li Ji, Ph.D., director of the School of Kinesiology and director of the Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene and Exercise Science, had a busy schedule on a recent 11-day trip to China, presenting three different keynote lectures.
Continue reading “Ji delivers a trio of keynote lectures while in China”
CEHD Reads and author Wes Moore highlight first-year experience
Each year the First Year Experience Program in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning partners with CEHD Reads to bring the author of the annual FYE Common Book to campus to talk to first-year students and the college community. This year students were excited to welcome Wes Moore, author of The Other Wes Moore, to campus on Nov. 16.
Wes Moore is a Rhodes Scholar, a veteran of combat in Afghanistan, and served as Special Assistant to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. These accomplishments, however, are not at the center of the story he tells in his book, which instead focuses on his childhood growing up in Baltimore and the Bronx. The Other Wes Moore examines the barriers and challenges adolescents face growing up in impoverished and violent neighborhoods.
By highlighting the importance of context, as well as the role of mentors, community, and service, Moore spoke to many of the issues students have been exploring as they study his book in their First Year Inquiry course. The author used his time with the college community to inspire students to “make a difference.” Moore — a charismatic and engaging speaker — emphasized that “everybody has a shot at something bigger than where they started from” and that it is our duty to take responsibility for others as well as ourselves if we want to build a stronger community.
Warren Spannaus speaks about politics and citizenship
Warren Spannaus, Minnesota Attorney General from 1971 to 1983 and former Democratic candidate for governor, spoke to Gary Peter and Karen Miksch’s PsTL 1246 Engaging Citizenship and Democracy students. Mr. Spannaus talked about important U.S. Supreme Court decisions as well as issues related to the outcome of the recent election, including the ongoing debate about whether the Electoral College should be discontinued. He also discussed the two proposed constitutional amendments (voter ID and same-sex marriage) that were on the ballot, the political factors that led to their defeat, and the recent change in party control of the Minnesota legislature. Mr. Spannaus stressed to students the importance of their individual votes and understanding the structure and power of government. The decisions made by elected officials can have a much longer effect than the time an individual may serve in office.
FSoS Sara Lassig featured in WCCO story on aging
Family Social Science instructor Sara Lassig talks about dealing with aging parents and not thinking of it as a role reversal, in an interview with WCCO that aired November 19. Read the story and watch the video on WCCO’s website.
FSoS Sampson, Yeats, & Harris publish article in Contemporary Family Therapy
Family Social Science graduate students and founders of The Hoarding Project, Jennifer Sampson and Janet Yeats, along with Family Social Science professor Steve Harris, have published an article in Contemporary Family Therapy.
The article, “An Evaluation of an Ambiguous Loss Based Psychoeducational Support Group for Family Members of Persons Who Hoard: A Pilot Study” appears in volume 34, issue 4 of the international journal and explains findings from a six-week intervention group study around individuals who hoard, their family members, and the increased understanding between the two during a two-month follow up interview.
FSoS Shonda Craft featured in Huffington Post
“The Citizen Professional model, developed by Dr. William Doherty, is a way of engaging professionals and community members to collaborate without the typical hierarchical relationships. It also addresses issues traditionally defined as individual problems from a more community-focused perspective,” explains Dr. Craft.
Find out how she got started and where she’s planning to go next:
Citizen Professionalism: An Interview With Shonda Craft
By Harry Boyte Director, Center for Democracy and Citizenship at Augsburg College
Poetz honored by The Arc Minnesota
Cliff Poetz of the College’s Institute on Community Integration is one of several people being honored at a “Heroes of The Arc Minnesota Luncheon” on December 7. The Arc Minnesota promotes and protects the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and actively supports their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes. Cliff has been one of the most visible and vocal advocates for people with developmental disabilities in Minnesota for four decades. He has a long history of building the self-advocacy movement and serving The Arc locally, statewide, and nationally.
Karen Stout on MPR
Karen Stout of the College’s Institute on Community Integration (ICI) was a panelist for the program “High school dropouts: Should we let them go?” on The Daily Circuit, a news program aired by Minnesota Public Radio on November 5. She is a researcher at ICI and an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development. Her work at ICI includes efficacy studies on the Check & Connect student engagement model, as well as its postsecondary applications. To hear the broadcast, visit http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/11/05/daily-circuit-high-school-dropouts/.
ICI’s Rutzen and Smith featured in Apostrophe magazine
Kurt Rutzen (pictured left) of the college’s Institute on Community Integration (ICI) appeared on the cover of the Winter 2012-13 issue of Apostrophe magazine, which contained a feature story about him and his advocacy for people with disabilities titled “Kurt Rutzen, Man on a Mission.” An article about the Institute Web site Quality Mall titled “Quality Mall: A Virtual Resource,” and featuring ICI staff member John Smith (pictured right), was in the same issue. The online edition of Apostrophe, a national magazine that promotes inclusion of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, is at http://apostrophemagazine.com/
winter-2012-13-3/.
CEHD features Kinesiology PhD student Greg Rhodes
Greg Rhodes, PhD student in Kinesiology, is featured on the CEHD home page, in the article, “The Science of Endurance,” written by Kinesiology’s communications specialist, Molly Augustin. The story details Rhodes’ discovery of his passion and interest in the science of exercise at an early age, when he first visited the Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene and Exercise Science as a high school student. In addition to studying for his doctorate and working as a graduate assistant, Rhodes engages in a demanding training regimen that took him to Madison, WI last summer to compete in his third Ironman, where he finished 69th out of a field of 2800 participants.
Rhodes is advised by Dr. Stacy Ingraham and Dr. Arthur Leon.
OLPD graduate student selected as 2012 British American Project Fellow
Jamal Adam, a Ph.D. student (higher education) in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development (OLPD) has been selected as a 2012 British American Project Fellow. The British American Project is a “transatlantic fellowship of over 1,000 leaders, rising stars and opinion formers from a broad spectrum of occupations, backgrounds and political views. It is a network rich in a diversity of people who have, or are likely to, achieve distinction in their field.
OLPD alumni serves as Food and Agriculture Organization Representative to UN in Peru
John Preissing is now the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Representative of the United Nations in Peru. In this role he works on the broad range of agriculture and rural development topics that the FAO covers, from foot and mouth disease control strategies, small family farming extension strategies, high seas fishing treaties, forest inventories, to food and nutrition legislation. The FAO has about 120 staff members which works with four ministries, several UN sister agencies, and other international groups. View a video to learn more about his work (video is in Spanish).
Preissing received his Ph.D. from the Department of Work and Human Resource Education (now the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development) in 2006.