Letters and Sciences Today - Fall/Winter 2020-2021

Today

Letters & Sciences College of Letters and Sciences Highlights Vol. 15 - Fall 2020/Winter 2021

Teaching and Learning in the Age of COVID-19 (pages 2, 10-11)

Faculty Success Stories (pages 14-15, 17-18, 20) CSU Professor Goes Hollywood (page 16) Cover photo by CDC on Unsplash

In This Issue

Student Success Stories – 3-5 | Special Events – 6 | National Spotlight – 7

Meritorious Programs – 8-9 | In Memoriam – 12-13 | New Faculty – 19

Dean’s Welcome

T

he year 2020 has proven to be one of the most challenging years of my professional career and probably of my lifetime. Chats with fellow faculty and administrators lead me to believe that others feel the same way.

This year we were introduced to COVID-19.

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus that has claimed the lives of approximately 240,000 Americans. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who work on the frontlines, who have lost family and friends, and who have lost their source of income and homes to this devastating virus.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed us in many ways. We changed our conversations from summer vacations to face masks, gloves, sheltering in place, and social distancing. We “Out of adversity changed how we comes opportunity.” work and where we work from. We — Benjamin Franklin learned flexibility is key as circumstances surrounding the pandemic changed by the minute, day, week, and month.

I am proud of the faculty, staff, and students in the College of Letters and Sciences in the way we have responded to the challenges and uncertainties presented by the pandemic. One of our CSU “Create You” pillars is Reimaging Education. We reimagined education. During the spring semester, the college pivoted hundreds of courses from face-to-face to fully online in a matter of two weeks.

The spirit of cooperation among faculty and with other divisions on campus proved to be critical to the success we experienced. Our students may not have preferred all online learning, but they adjusted, and our faculty and staff produced the best online learning environment and experience possible in a short period while facing the uncertainties of the pandemic.

A benefit realized from the pandemic has been an increase in enrollment. With the pandemic still looming, we are poised to bring these eager students back to campus safely in spring 2021. The university will continue abiding

by University System of Georgia requirements, which include wearing face coverings, physical distancing, and sanitizing protocols in offices and common spaces. We will prepare for the new year and new semester no matter the surprises and challenges it may hold.

Looking back at the challenges we have faced, 2020 has been a year of opportunity for the College. Opportunity for collaboration. Opportunity for creativity. Opportunity for innovation. As you read through our newsletter, you will be in awe of our grasp of these opportunities and our commitment to student success and academic excellence.

In closing, I thank our faculty, staff, and students for staying the course. We are able to continue our mission, in part, because of you. I would also like to say a special thank you to each of our donors. As donors, you join us as partners in pursuit of student success and excellence in education. Your support is invaluable to us and has immediate and lasting impact. Thank you!

Annice Yarber-Allen Dean of the College of Letters and Sciences

Letters & Sciences Today Writer – Barbara Hunt (Hunt_Barbara@ColumbusState.edu) Circulation Coordinator – Angela Johnson (Johnson_Angela@ColumbusState.edu) Design & Layout – Kelsey Vickers 2

Letters & Sciences Today

Alumni & Student News De’smond Henry, Young Alumni Award Recipient

By Jill Carroll

As part of Homecoming week, the Columbus State University Alumni Association held its 2020 Alumni Recognition Awards Program on October 23.

De’smond Henry, B.A. ‘10, received the Young Alumni Award. It is presented annually to alumni who have graduated in the last 15 years, and recognizes a commitment to excellence in post-collegiate life and a significant or ongoing commitment to extraordinary work, research, volunteerism or service to CSU. Dr. Henry earned a degree in biology at CSU before completing his M.D. at Mercer University School of Medicine and a residency at Morehouse School of Medicine. During his residency, Dr. Henry was the administrative chief resident in obstetrics and gynecology at Grady Hospital in Atlanta. He is now practicing as an OB/GYN in southwest Georgia.

CSU Student Attending Graduate School in Anthropology Last October, senior Ashley Brand had the opportunity to talk with Jamie Spark, Atlanta’s Consul General of Peru, about her role in the research being conducted on the Paloma Collection while it is being stored here at CSU. Under the supervision of CSU professor Danielle Cook, who received the collection in 2015, Brand began to uncover many things about this population’s life and culture. The collection consisted of remains primarily from the Paloma site as well as others from sites along the coast of Peru.

Brand, a history major with a minor in anthropology, was eager to speak with Spark and his wife about her discoveries and her experiences as she worked with the collection. An aspect of her research included correlating the metal accumulation present in the remains of the Paloma people with their assumed diet. With the guidance of Professor Cook, Brand has learned many techniques, such as best practices for handling, cataloging, and sorting remains; identifying differences between kinds of ceramics; and learning how to properly use a scanning electron microscope.

For Brand, the biggest take away from this experience has been the impact of what the smallest of remains have on history. These remains are from people that had lives, families, and experiences similar to ours; from the remains, she can look back on them and learn from them. “To be able to reconstruct their history thousands of years after they happened is incredible and humbling,” Brand said, recounting the experience.

Since graduating in May, Brand intends to further her pursuit of knowledge through a graduate degree in anthropology, focusing on physical anthropology. Through the anthropology program at CSU, she has learned academic and practical skills to use in the lab and in the field for her further schooling and future career. The experiences that Brand has had in this program and with the faculty are invaluable and have provided more than an ordinary undergraduate experience.

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Student Success First Chemistry Student Named 2019 - 2020 Oxford Visiting Student Columbus State University student ZiJie “Jerry” Lin was chosen to participate in the 2019 - 2020 Oxford Visiting Student (OVS) Program. The prestigious program allows students to study at Oxford, England for one term to a full academic year. Jerry has been accepted for the full academic year and is CSU’s first-ever chemistry student to receive this honor.

To be eligible for this program, students must be working on their major/minor course requirements in their respective field(s), must hold a 3.5 cumulative GPA or higher, and must have completed a minimum of 60 credit hours. Admission into the OVS Program is determined by administrators from both Columbus State and Oxford University and is limited to a few students per term.

Attending the University of Oxford is a very prestigious academic achievement and a truly life-changing experience. Students have the opportunity to immerse themselves in British culture, while experiencing Oxford’s collegiate life by joining university clubs and societies. As an OVS participant, Jerry lived in the CSU-owned Spencer House along with other CSU students and regular full-time Oxford students from Regent’s Park College. Oxford is located about two hours (by bus) from London, so Jerry had easy access to a major international airport and was encouraged to travel independently as his schedules permitted.

Originally from China, Jerry moved to Columbus in 2006 and became a U.S. citizen in 2019. He is a graduate of Columbus High School and is pursuing a bachelor’s of science in chemistry with the American Chemical Society Certified Track, along with minors in both biology and math. Jerry is an Honors College scholar at CSU. He would ultimately like to conduct research in chemical synthesis and teach at the university level. Jerry was encouraged to apply for the OVS Program by his mentors and advisors: Dr. Kerri Taylor, Dr. Floyd Jackson, Dr. Cindy Ticknor, Ms. Laura Pate, Dr. Eric Spears, and Dr. Ryan Lynch.

The OVS Program is made possible through the generous support of the Kyle Spencer family: all students selected are awarded a Spencer Scholarship, which enables their enrollment at the University of Oxford by funding the tuition that exceeds the cost of tuition at CSU (estimated in value of $12,000 per term at Oxford). We are thankful to Mr. Spencer and his family for this generous scholarship.

Jerry was recently named a 2019 recipient of the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education. This scholarship also assisted in covering the expense of the OSV Program. He is the first CSU student to be named a Barry Goldwater Scholar. The Goldwater Foundation was established by Congress in 1986 to serve as a living memorial to honor the lifetime work of Senator Barry Goldwater. By providing scholarships to college sophomores and juniors who intend to pursue research careers in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering, the Goldwater Foundation aims to ensure that the U.S. is producing the number of highly-qualified professionals the nation needs in these critical fields.

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Student Success Meet Georgia’s First UTeach graduate in Computer Science Education Over the years, CSU has strived to reduce the shortage of STEM teachers in public schools by attracting students to teaching through its UTeach program. For years, the CSU program has produced many math and science teachers for middle and high schools; it’s now the first approved program in the state to produce computer science teachers as well.

Anthony Obando is the first student in the state of Georgia to finish the UTeach program in computer science. Anthony is student-teaching this semester at Double Churches Middle School, where faculty there—especially Mrs. R. Star Wallace—have taken him under their wings to provide a wonderful experience.

When computer science education was established, he swapped his major from computer science software development to computer science education. He was a tutor for the Computer Science Department and was approached by Ms. Hillary Fleenor (then the director of the computer science tutorial program) about teaching elementary school students using LEGO Mindstorms. After 10 weeks, he knew he wanted to teach even though most computer science majors go to industry after they graduate.

“When I told them [other computer science majors] I wanted to teach, they were shocked.

My father is a professor at Columbus State University in Computer Science and they never expected me, the son of a professor they held in high esteem, to go into the [public] school district,” Anthony recalled.

Anthony says the UTeach program has been very welcoming. “Mr. Kenneth Jones was my professor for the introductory courses of UTeach and what he taught us in those courses really has proven indispensable….

The only thing it did not prepare me for was this pandemic.” He says the teachers at Double Churches are all trying to learn “how to settle into virtual learning and it is a learning process for us all.”

His short-term career plan is to stay in Muscogee County and teach Computer Science. His long-term goal includes working on a master’s or doctoral degree in computer science, which might require him to move.

Being the first computer science graduate of the UTeach program in the state of Georgia, Anthony will find it easy to be employed, especially since he even has a publication under his belt. Last year, he helped set up a Mesonet at Oxbow Meadows with Dr. W. Scott Gunter and others in the Earth and Space Sciences program at CSU. A Mesonet is a network of automated weather stations in close proximity to one another that collects meteorological data such as temperature, rainfall, air pressure, humidity, wind speed and direction, and solar radiation.

“I did a little bit of everything,” Anthony says. “I proofread code, I worked with hardware, and I was going to set up the server.” They were planning to connect the database to Oxbow Meadows when COVID-19 hit and the project was abandoned. The paper about the Mesonet setup was published in the proceedings of one of the largest Computer Science conferences in the world.

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Special Events Podcast Series on Carson McCullers The Carson McCullers Center has launched a podcast series — The Carson McCullers Center’s Weekly We of Me—which focuses on the life, work, and lasting influence of Carson McCullers.

The podcast series is produced by Nick Norwood, Director of the Carson McCullers Center and Professor of English at CSU. The McCullers Center is collaborating with the Schwob School of Music and CSU’s Recording Studio. They release one episode every week. Each episode features a segment from an interview they have conducted, and each features a reading from Carson’s work.

So far, they have interviewed Carlos Dews (founding director of the McCullers Center and the world’s leading McCullers scholar), Natalia Temesgen (CSU Creative Writing Faculty and writer for Dear White People, a Netflix original series), Sarah Schulman (writer and gay rights activist), Jonathan Samuel Eddie (writer, actor, slam poet, and leader of Fountain City Teen Poetry Slam), and actress/director Karen Allen. Actress Rachel Weisz has also agreed to be interviewed as well. As of early November, 20 episodes have aired.

U.S. Poet Laureate Speaks at CSU U.S. Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo, gave a poetry reading February 21 and participated in a Master Class February 22 at the Riverside Theatre at CSU’s RiverPark campus. Her “poetry reading” also included musical pieces, singing, and chants, making the event more performance art than a reading typically is.

She played various instruments, including the flute and the saxophone, sometimes alternating the spoken word with music she played or songs she sung. Her Native American identity infuses her writing in every way, from subject matter to symbolism, rhythm and sound.

The Master Class featured Harjo together with two other writers, poet Sandra Meek and essayist/novelist Melissa Pritchard. Harjo’s appearance in Columbus is sponsored by the Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians at CSU as part of its Carson McCullers Literary Festival. In addition, her presence marks the final week of the Chattahoochee Valley Libraries’ NEA Big Read celebration of her poetry collection How We Became Human.

Harjo is an internationally renowned performer and writer of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. In 2019, she was named the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States in 2019.

She is also the author of nine books of poetry, several plays and children’s books, and a memoir, Crazy Brave. Her many honors include the Ruth Lily Prize for Lifetime Achievement from the Poetry Foundation; the Academy of American Poets Wallace Stevens Award; a PEN USA Literary Award; Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund Writers’ Award; a Rasmuson U.S. Artist Fellowship; two NEA fellowships; and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Harjo is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and is a founding board member of the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation.

Harjo graduated with a B.A. in art from the University of New Mexico in 1976 and with an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Iowa.

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National Spotlight Meet the New National President of TriBeta Dr. Julie Ballenger, chair of the Department of Biology, has been elected president of Beta Beta Beta (BBB or TriBeta), a national honor society for students, particularly undergraduates, that is “dedicated to improving the understanding and appreciation of biological study and extending boundaries of human knowledge through scientific research” (BBB website). The society was founded in 1922. Dr. Ballenger will be presiding over the group during its centennial celebration in 2022. Over the years, the organization has inducted more than 200,000 members and boasts 626 chapters in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

A national meeting occurs every other year. In Spring 2020, CSU was set to host the national TriBeta convention, but it was cancelled due to COVID-19. Since 1922, the only other times the national convention has been cancelled was in 1933 due to the depression and in 1943 due to war. Presidents of the organization serve two-year terms and can be reelected to serve up to eight years.

For years, Dr. Ballenger has attended the regional meetings for the southeast districts, which are usually held in conjunction with the Association of Southeastern Biologists, another organization that promotes biological research and education. A TriBeta executive leadership team — including the president, all the vice presidents and national officers from across the U.S. and Puerto Rico — meets virtually a couple of times a year. For several years, Dr. Ballenger has been on this team representing the Southeast.

Dr. Ballenger plans to work with chapters, especially new chapters, to host inductions virtually. Past presidents have tried to get more chapters to apply for the Bertholf Award, which recognizes outstanding chapters, and she plans to continue that effort. She also hopes to reach out to some of the inactive chapters to see if they can reestablish themselves. Last year, TriBeta awarded 145 research scholarships worth more than $75,000. Since scholarship funding is an important part of BBB, Dr. Ballenger plans to grow the number of applicants and amount of funding.

Biology students can also present their research at regional and national conventions, and can publish their findings in BBB’s journal BIOS, soon to go online.

Dr. Ballenger says this about her new position as president: “[BBB] is very large and very old so sometimes change can be slow, but I am working with a great group of individuals that have the vision and the drive to see that TriBeta continues to be successful for the students we serve.”

Do You Know What Your Donations Have Supported?

Thanks to you, the College of Letters and Sciences provides 35 summer scholarships and other significant opportunities for our students! By giving back to CSU, you make a meaningful impact on students’ lives.

Tax-deductible contributions to our scholarship funds or other programs can be made online at ColumbusState.edu/Giving. For more information about our programs and initatives, please contact Jill Carroll: 706-507-8431; Carroll_Jill@ColumbusState.edu.

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Meritorious Programs Command College Outreach One of CSU’s fastest growing undergraduate programs, the Professional Management Program (PMP) of the Command College (CC), is continuing to expand across the state of Georgia. Since 2016, CSU has opened six new sites across the state, including those at two universities. CSU’s PMP at Georgia Tech was opened in 2017; the latest PMP site, on the campus of Augusta University, opened January 2020. Both were opened at the request of those universities.

William “Billy” Mixon, CC director, is a career law enforcement official who has been involved with public safety training for 25 years, including 13 years as the Public Safety Training Manager at Columbus’ Georgia Public Safety Training Center. After serving as CC’s interim director, he was appointed as director in November 2016.

Established in 1994, CC includes the PMP for undergraduate students and Executive College for graduate students. Since the graduate program’s inception, more than 300 different agencies have participated in 55 different classes.

Students enrolled in CC’s Executive College attend 12 intensive cohort sessions of classes over a two-year period, completing 460 hours of classes. Classes are divided into 40-hour modules, including:

• Leadership in Public Safety Administration • Human Resource Management and Development • Fiscal Management and Public Finance • Legal Issues and Trends in Public Safety Administration

• • • •

Strategic Planning and Policy Development Organizational and Management Realities Research in Public Safety Administration Five (5) Auxiliary Courses

The Executive College sets itself apart by being distinctive, flexible and comprehensive. In Spring 2020, there were 38 students in the Executive College program, totaling 65 students for the 2019-2020 academic year. In October 2019, Governor Kemp commended CC for serving as a “graduate school” for public safety in Georgia. Over the years, the Masters in Public Safety Administration has graduated 70 cohorts, consisting of 1,584 graduates.

Now, there is even talk of adding a fire science program. Imagine what that will do for the State of Georgia and CSU!

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Meritorious Programs CSU Receives National Award for International Education Columbus State University has received the 2019 American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Excellence and Innovation Award for International Education. AASCU selected CSU’s program “Your Developing Global Citizens: Engagement, Inclusion, and International Opportunity” for its outstanding results and potential to influence and serve as a model for other institutions. COLS faculty and students are active in study abroad and International Learning Community (ILC) programs.

“CSU is excited to receive this award as we begin our ‘Create You’ campaign. The University is dedicated to giving students experiential learning opportunities that are high-impact and transformative,” said Dr. Eric Spears, chair of International Education and executive director of the Center for Global Engagement. “This award would not be possible without the dedicated talent of CSU’s faculty and staff who support education abroad, international students, and global curricular and co-curricular programming. It took a community to win this award. We should celebrate it as a CSU community.”

In 2014, Columbus State was awarded the Simon Award, recognizing U.S. colleges and universities making significant, well-planned, well-executed, and well-documented progress toward comprehensive internationalization—especially those using innovative and creative approaches. CSU has become a national leader in international education, outpacing larger research and smaller private liberal arts institutions with creative programming, inclusion, and student funding.

Award recipients received an engraved sculpture and were recognized during the opening session of the 2019 AASCU Annual Meeting, Sunday, October 27. The purpose of the award is to honor member institutions for excellence and innovation in several major areas of campus life and leadership.

(L-R) Dr. Eric Spears (Chair of International Education and Executive Director of the Center for Global Engagement at CSU), Dr. Chris Markwood (President of CSU), and Dr. Deborah Bordelon (Provost and Executive Vice President of CSU) attended the awarding ceremony in Phoenix.

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Cover Story: Corona Chronicles Teaching and Learning in the Age of COVID-19 In the middle of Spring semester 2020, all CSU courses went virtual due to the coronavirus pandemic. This conversion was easy for some faculty who were already skilled at teaching online courses, but incredibly difficult for others who had avoided online teaching at all costs. In the span of two weeks, including Spring Break, faculty were expected to convert their physical classrooms to virtual classrooms and become experts in using CougarVIEW, CSU’s online learning platform. So how did faculty do this?

for some because it means re-thinking everything in terms of ‘how does this activity or assignment or test directly support the students’ development of skills or knowledge’?”

Dr. Susan Hrach is director of the Faculty Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, which provides opportunities for professional development and is the campus hub for helping faculty assess and improve how they teach. When the pandemic hit and courses went online, professors were forced to adapt their courses to online format and looked to Dr. Hrach and the Faculty Center for help.

Here’s a snapshot of how some professors and departments in COLS accomplished the seemingly impossible.

“Faculty are really doing an impressive job of experimenting with new ideas,” Dr. Hrach says.

“Some people who barely used CougarVIEW before are now tackling advanced tech tools. It’s been a huge learning curve for faculty.”

Chemistry and ESS (Earth and Space Science)

According to Dr. Floyd Jackson, Chemistry and ESS department chair, the departments have been “tried and tested beyond our wildest imagination to provide instructional material to students that support the learning outcomes of the lecture and lab classes.” For the lecture classes, one of the most important components was recording the lectures and Dr. Hrach said that, in some ways, teaching and posting them for students to learning underwent “a tectonic shift, and in other revisit at their leisure. Another ways, we’re just finding new means to do what we component was the virtual already know works:” office hours, which have been a tremendous help in attending to 1. Offering students meaningful ways to interact the needs of our students. with the material; 2. Building a sense of community for learners; and 3. Making transparent the course goals and how In regards to the labs, Dr. Jackson said, “We have students will be expected to demonstrate their conducted some in-person and some virtually. Both have been a challenge, but they have worked out learning. very well. For the in-person labs, we have had the “So, in case of number 1, some faculty have challenge of dealing with social distancing, which is discovered great tools for making content more extremely difficult in a laboratory class with students interactive (social reading platforms, embedded constantly moving around. What we have done to quizzes in videos, shared whiteboards in virtual curtail their interaction is record all pre-laboratory meeting spaces). For number 2, we’ve had to think discussions to save time for students to complete the carefully about how to be inclusive online (be activities. The lab time is split and only half of the attentive to name displays, design small group tasks class comes for the first half and the second group for virtual breakout rooms, follow up with students comes in the second half. As a result, every student gets hands-on training.” who haven’t logged in recently).

“Number 3 may be the area that is the biggest stretch Some labs are 100% online and for the students in 10 10

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Cover Story: Corona Chronicles these classes, the experiments have been recorded for students to watch to see exactly what happens and how the experiment is conducted. The students obtain the data and perform various calculations based upon the data presented in the experiments.

This method has also worked well but students lack actual hands-on experience.

Biology Over the summer, Dr. Julie Ballenger, Biology department chair, made several modifications to her Organismic Biology course, which she had taught completely online (both lecture and lab), but wanted to improve. She took her normal lectures for each chapter and broke each chapter into two to three smaller sections. She provided the lecture slides in small units without her recorded lectures and with the recorded lectures. Each recorded lecture was 1012 minutes long. For the labs, she took photos of the prepared slides at multiple levels of magnification.

She photographed mosses, ferns gymnosperms, and flowering plants, showing different structures, and she created PowerPoints for each lab. Students purchased lab books that guided them through the visuals she provided in the lab PowerPoints. All lecture and lab exams were online.

“There are several expectations for my Cell Biology course. I want to be sure to teach students to think critically and most importantly how to apply the material learned in the course. I also want to teach students lab skills that are applicable to the workforce, to include use of scientific equipment, development of graphs and charts from data they collect; and last but not least, how to communicate those findings to both a broader and scientific audience.”

One of her concerns was how she was going to handle cheating. She decided to focus on developing questions that, while they had an answer in Google, would require students to pull together information learned throughout the course to answer scenariobased questions. These questions would allow her to see if they truly understood the foundational principles in a way that is applicable to science.

Another concern was labs. “I wanted the students to experience as close to a lab experience as possible.

So, I took the labs I normally teach and adapted them to be used at home/dorm., allowing for the use of standard chemicals found at home (e.g. peroxide, colored dyes, ethyl alcohol, bread making yeast, etc.). I then created lab kits that the students would pick up every other week to take home. We would then meet virtually (with cameras on) in Microsoft This fall, she is letting students choose whether they Teams so I could see them perform the lab, interact want to come to campus or not (hiflex). Her lectures with them in real time, and help them troubleshoot have been hiflex, but most students elect not to come the protocols. As they recorded their data, they to campus and instead utilize the recorded lectures. would upload them, complete with pictures of their While most of the students attend labs in person, they work for grading.” have the option to use the online lab material if they can’t come to lab or are not feeling well.

Some of the things she created included kits that taught students how to perform an ELISA, which is Dr. Monica Frazier, Biology professor a technique used in the Rapid COVID test. “I also who specializes in cancer biology, taught them how to perform basic technical skills used explained her pivot to online in labs that study cells, such as serial dilutions, micro learning like this: “Adapting pipetting, conversions, and gel electrophoresis.” a biology course, particularly These kits were a hit with the class. “I had some an upper level biology course students express their roommates were jealous and/ to the online format was or anticipated what kind of lab supplies/experiments particularly daunting for me. they would bring home next!”

How do you keep the learning, rigor and engagement that is expected in a Junior level COVID-19 changed how and what students learned, course? How do you keep doing what you’ve always aided in helping faculty learn new methods of done, but in an online format?” teaching, and proved yet again that “out of adversity comes opportunity.”

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In Memoriam The Passing of Dr. Tom Dolan - Chair and Professor of Political Science Dr. Tom Dolan passed away in early December 2019. Dolan joined the CSU faculty in August 2000 after 20 years as a Naval officer. During his tenure, he chaired the Political Science department from 2003 to 2008 and again from 2010 to 2014; retired as a full Professor in 2018; was named Professor Emeritus that same year; and taught courses in Political Science as recently as spring semester 2019.

While at CSU, Dolan was interviewed more than 90 times for local, national and international radio, newspapers, and TV because of his extensive knowledge of politics and political affairs, especially in Korea and Japan. His 46 publications include 34 encyclopedia articles specializing in the developing world, East Asia, and China. His travels at Columbus State took him to Japan, China (twice), South Korea (twice), North Korea (twice), Israel, and three times to the UK, including two times teaching in Oxford.

Dolan served as the director of the Richard R. Hallock Lecture Series from 2007 to 2016. Under his leadership, CSU hosted a series of internationally recognized speakers in the area of national security, including Ambassador Thomas Pickering and Major General Patricia Frost.

The Passing of Dr. Flora Mae Clark - Professor Emeritus of Biology

By Dr. George Stanton On May 20, the Columbus State family lost a significant figure in our institution’s history. Professor Flora Mae Clark passed away in Dothan, Alabama, following an extended illness. Born in 1933, she was raised on a family farm where she learned the value of hard work along with a respect for learning and nature.

Reared in Madrid, Alabama, she graduated from Rehobeth High School, earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Montevallo College, taught two years at Rehobeth High School and two additional years in Verdun, France. After earning a master’s degree from Montevallo College, she enrolled at the University of Tennessee. Upon completion of her doctorate in biology, she accepted a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Georgia where she worked in the area of developmental biology.

In 1972, Dr. Clark was hired as the sixth tenure-track biologist at Columbus College and, for the next 25 years, taught the biology program’s required course in genetics, an advanced elective in developmental biology, and many sections of introductory biology. She was effective at recruiting new biology majors from her introductory sections, often convincing female students that they could take on the most demanding challenges of biology, and demonstrating to many male students that a woman could bring confidence and competence to one of the most challenging biological disciplines.

In addition, she made many significant contributions to shared governance in the growing college and university. She chaired the Athletic Committee for many years and was a powerful and successful advocate for Title IX implementation. She also championed an institutional commitment to placing increasing numbers of women into positions of leadership.

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In Memoriam A year before she retired, Flora advised me that if we did not establish a laboratory where we could teach and carry out undergraduate research in molecular biology, we would be unable to recruit the sort of faculty members we needed for the future. Under her guidance and Dean LeNoir’s approval, the molecular laboratory soon became a reality. Immediate results were the successful recruitment of Dr. Julie Ballenger and Dr. Brian Schwartz, and ever since the CSU Biology Department has enjoyed student success in molecular biology. When Dr. Clark retired, the department placed a plaque in her honor by the door to that lab. Later, a department fund to support student research in cellular and molecular biology was named in her honor.

Following retirement, Flora remained in Columbus. She became an active member and leader of the Columbus Audubon Society. She enjoyed bird watching locally and at distant locations. Under her leadership, the Audubon chapter designed, funded, and oversaw construction of an Audubon bird garden at CSU’s Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center.

As her health began to decline, she returned to Dothan to be near family. Those wishing to remember Dr. Flora Clark may contribute to the Flora Clark fund, CSU Department of Biology, through the CSU Foundation or donate to Trees Columbus to have a tree planted in her memory.

The Passing of Dr. Dan Ross - Professor Emeritus, English On August 7, Daniel (Dan) William Ross, 68, passed away following a valiant seven-year battle with cancer. He was preceded in death by his son Benjamin Yates Ross and is survived by his wife of 44 years, Cindy, daughter Melanie (Oakland, CA), brother Robert D. Ross and many others. A live-streamed memorial service was held Saturday, August 15, at First Baptist Church in Columbus.

Dan received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Georgia and received his Ph.D. from Purdue University. He taught English at Columbus State University from 1990 until he retired in 2018.

He was a dedicated and admired teacher, a published and respected scholar, and a mentor for many young faculty. His fields of interest were Irish Literature, Victorian Literature, and Modern British Literature.

Dan shared his love for travel with students, faculty, and friends through various study abroad programs, taking them to Japan, London, and Oxford for more than 15 consecutive years. He served as the first site director of CSU’s Spencer House in Oxford, England. He received many awards, including the Faculty Service Award and being named Professor Emeritus.

Dan had a passion for music, art, and sports, particularly baseball and UGA football. One of his greatest passions was reading, sharing his favorite novels, and inspiring book clubs. He loved spending time with his family and his many friends from around the world. As a lifelong learner, Dan believed in the importance of seeking out and engaging in discussions whenever and wherever he could. He will be remembered for his quick wit, strong opinions, and open mind.

Dan was a deacon at First Baptist Church and taught adult Bible study classes over 20 years, where he enthusiastically chaired and served on the Education and History committees. He especially enjoyed the lively discussions with members of the Thursday morning book study group.

Donations in his memory can be made to the Ben Ross Scholarship Fund by contacting carroll_jill@ columbusstate.edu.

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Faculty Awards and Recognitions

*HONORS COLLEGE 2019-2020 TEACHER OF THE YEAR *CSU FACULTY RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP AWARD

Markus Weidler, Ph.D. Department of Politics, Philosophy and Public Administration Joined CSU in 2007

Ryan Lynch, Ph.D. Department of History and Geography Joined CSU in 2016

*CSU SCHOLARSHIP OF TEACHING AND LEARNING AWARD

Diana Riser, Ph.D. Department of Psychology Joined CSU in 2011

*USG CHANCELLOR’S LEARNING SCHOLAR

Stephanie da Silva, Ph.D. Department of Psychology Joined CSU in 2007 *CSU TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD

*CSU EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR

Rebecca Gerdes-McClain, Ph.D. Department of English Joined CSU in 2017

Kimberly Gill, Ph.D. Department of Politics, Philosophy and Public Administration Joined CSU in 2011

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*GEORGIA GOVERNOR’S TEACHING FELLOW *CSU TEACHING INNOVATION AWARD *CSU HONORS COLLEGE FACULTY FELLOW Aisha Adams, Ph.D. Department of Psychology Joined CSU in 2016

Letters & Sciences Today

Faculty Awards and Recognitions

*USG REGENTS SCHOLARSHIP OF TEACHING AND LEARNING AWARD

*GEORGIA EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD

Guihong Fan, Ph.D. Department of Mathematics Joined CSU in 2013

Kimberly Shaw, Ph.D. Department of Earth and Space Sciences Joined CSU in 2007 (See related story p.17)

*GEORGIA GOVERNOR’S COMMENDATION

Billy Mixon, M.S. Command College Joined CSU in 1991 (See related story p. 8.)

*EMERALD LITERATI AWARD

(outstanding author contributions in research in ethical issues in organizations given by Emerald Publishing)

*GIANT REPTILE NAMED AFTER CSU PROFESSOR: DEINOSUCHUS SCHWIMMERI (named in honor of David R. Schwimmer for his tireless work on the Late Cretaceous paleontology of the Southeast and Eastern Seaboard, U.S.A.)

David Schwimmer, Ph.D. Department of Earth and Space Sciences Joined CSU in 1978

Letters & Sciences Today

*CSU INNOVATION IN SCHOLARSHIP AND RESEARCH SEED GRANT

Brandt Smith, Ph.D. Department of Psychology Joined CSU in 2016

*2020 JPAE ARTICLE OF THE YEAR The Journal of Public Affairs Education editorial board has selected Dr. Saerim Kim’s article “Linking Practice and Classroom: Nonprofit Financial Management Curricula in MPA and MPP programs” as the recipient. Authors are Dwight Denison and:

Saerim Kim, Ph.D. Department of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Administration Joined CSU in 2018

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Faculty Success Professor Temesgen Goes to Hollywood The saying “Luck happens when preparation meets opportunity” suggests that, in many ways, people make their own luck, create their own destiny. This famous quote, attributed to Roman philosopher Seneca, certainly applies to Natalia Temesgen, an assistant professor of creative writing at CSU, who was tapped to be a writer on the fourth and final season of Netflix’s original series Dear White People.

Temesgen’s luck hinged on her submitting a pilot for a TV show to various competitions, including the 2019 Launch Pad Pilot Competition, where it placed in the top 50 entries (out of thousands). The Launch Pad Competition is the world’s most prestigious screenwriting competitions, leading to more signings, success stories, and career boosts than any similar competition. Success here encouraged Temesgen to send her script to anyone she knew, even friends of friends.

One person who saw it was Jack Moore, a producer for Dear White People, who also happened to be looking for a couple of new season-four writers.

After a Skype interview, she was selected. From November 2019 until March 2020, Temesgen commuted between Columbus and Los Angeles, spending the majority of time on the west coast.

Her California commute ended due to COVID-19, when she returned to her family in Columbus — husband Pete, who is an attorney, and children Aria, age 6, and Paul, age 4 — and her full-time position at CSU. So, what has she learned that will impact her teaching?

The first is the importance of collaboration. TV script writing involves working with others, actively listening, and putting aside your ego. It’s definitely not for writers who are defensive, argumentative, derisive, or resistant to feedback. She was surprised that the first few weeks of her “writing” experience involved primarily group discussions on the overall arch of season four and the development of the characters.

These discussions required intensive listening, staying engaged, and staying open to new ideas. TV scriptwriting, unlike film scriptwriting, is a collaborative undertaking.

The second is the importance of pre-writing required for approval to proceed with a script. That is, she learned to write a 6-7 page outline of an episode that needed the approval of Netflix and Lionsgate prior to the actual writing of the script.

These lessons learned will alter the content of the scriptwriting course she teaches at CSU. One is possibly splitting the course into two parts (film scriptwriting, TV scriptwriting) and the other is emphasizing listening skills and collaborative writing.

In California, when she was not working on the show, she was revising plays and transforming them into film scripts or TV pilots. “I have a manager now,” she said, “whose responsibility is selling my ideas to others.”

Have you viewed Dear White People on Netflix? If you have, then you’ll be happy to hear that the fourth (and final) season will air this year. If you haven’t, you’re missing a show that Rotten Tomatoes has consistently rated 90-100% fresh, depending on the season.

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Letters & Sciences Today

Faculty Success CSU Faculty Member Receives Top State Award Dr. Kimberly Shaw, professor of physics and co-director of UTeach Columbus, was one of two professors statewide chosen to receive the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Award. Shaw was officially recognized at the Regents’ Scholarship Gala, February 21, 2020.

Each year, a panel of faculty and administrators from across USG meets to review nomination portfolios for the various state awards. According to Dr. Tristan Dentley, Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer for USG. “[The committee] noted her dedication to diversity and inclusion, and her focus on retention.”

Kim Shaw (center) receives Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award at the Regents’ Scholarship Gala.

Shaw earned her bachelor’s degree in Physics and Mathematics from Vanderbilt University and both her M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics from Florida State University. As a college teacher, she knew she wanted to make a difference in people’s learning experiences, so she began to shift her research from physics to physics education. How physics is taught affects people’s attitude toward it and acceptance of it, and she wants to be at the forefront of that teaching revolution.

So, what makes Shaw’s teaching so different, so special? To her, “Learning is not memorizing. It’s not passive. Students learn, not from lecture and text, but from doing science.”

While she was trained as a physicist, “science education is my passion, ensuring the excitement of science is shared by people of all ages, spreading opportunities that a strong foundation in scientific thinking provides. As a scientist, I want evidence that changes to my teaching are effective in improving the learning of my students.”

Over the years, some of the changes Shaw has made in how she teaches physics include using clickers, a flipped classroom model, and open source textbooks. Clicker questions allow formative assessment of student learning, giving students instant feedback on whether they understand difficult topics.

Whenever possible, she pre-records mini-lectures for students to view before class, which better prepares them for class. This flipped classroom model enables her to “free up” lecture time for active engagement, group activity, and facilitated discussion. Open source textbooks (low or no publishing costs) provide students affordable learning resources they can access online from the first day of class.

The UTeach program introduces students as freshman to the joy of science, math or computer science teaching in elementary and middlegrade classrooms. The program is built to give students the best possible transformational experience by exposing them early to the art of teaching science/math/computer science and to a variety of role models. The program also trains future teachers not only to be experts in STEM content, but also in the best practices in math, science and computer science education. She strives to teach in a way that involves active learning because, as she says, “Science is a verb.”

Letters & Sciences Today

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Faculty Engagement Putting French on the Map! In the past year, Dr. Anna Dimitrova has been a very busy faculty member in the department of Modern and Classical Languages where she teaches French.

In January 2020, Dr. Dimitrova taught a one-time class for adults titled: “Start Something New: French 101,” in which she presented La Francophonie (countries whose primary or secondary language is French), the French alphabet, numbers up to 50, and French greetings. The community-based course was taught at the North Columbus Public Library. Such courses help people in the community realize they can learn new things even though they are adults and help CSU improve public relations and recruit students.

During Spring Break 2021, she will offer a two-credit-hour study-abroad Perspectives course on France.

Her Perspectives course is part of a three-course cluster of classes being taught by Dr. Eric Spears (Center for Global Engagement) and Dr. Bryan Banks (History). The Perspectives class is called “What Makes Culture Unique?”and will explore the French past, the French society, the French-German connections, French food, French architecture, the role of the language as a means of communication, and other aspects of culture.

Dr. Dimitrova also had a film review article published in the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) journal in December 2019. In the last year, she certainly has been active promoting all things French!

Dr. Eugen J. Ionascu—Volunteering, Publishing and Mentoring People unfamiliar with academia sometimes think the only thing professors do is teach a few classes. The reality is that professors do so much more.

Take Dr. Eugen J. Ionascu, for example. In the past year, he has been recognized for his volunteer contribution to the editorial board of Mathematics Magazine, specifically for his work on the Problems column since 2011. Mathematics Magazine is copublished by the Mathematical Association of America and the Taylor & Francis Group. First published in 1947, Mathematics Magazine is an international, peer-reviewed journal that offers lively and appealing exposition on a wide range of mathematical topics in five issues each year.

In the last year, three of Ionascu’s articles were published: “Ehrhart Polynomial for Lattice Squares, Cubes and Hypercubes” appeared in The Romanian Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics; “Random Triangles in Planar Regions Containing a Fixed Point” appeared in the Mathematical Circle of Palermo; and “Apollonius ‘Circle’ in Spherical Geometry” appeared in the International Journal of Geometry.

In addition, he mentored two students whose works were recently published. Student Timothy Pitts’ solution to a problem was featured in College Mathematical Journal; another student, Henry Hetzel, had his math solution featured in the American Mathematical Monthly. Both journals are published by the Mathematical Association of America.

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Letters & Sciences Today

New Faculty Department of Biology Sri Ramakrishnan – Assistant Professor of Biology Srinivasan Ramakrishnan completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Microbiology from University of Mumbai. His interest in biological sciences motivated him to travel overseas to the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, to pursue his doctoral degree in Cell and Molecular Biology. Following his Ph.D., he completed two postdoctoral fellowships at the Rockefeller University in NY and at the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases in Athens, GA. During this time, Dr. Ramakrishnan also taught and mentored undergraduate and graduate students. His experience in working with students helped Dr. Ramakrishnan be hired as assistant professor in the department of biology at CSU. Here, he looks forward to mentoring and helping the students at CSU to succeed in their respective career goals.

Department of Criminal Justice and Sociology Cameron Williams – Assistant Professor of Sociology Dr. Cameron Williams received his Ph.D. in sociology from Loyola University Chicago. His dissertation, entitled Saving Place: Racial Interactions in Public Housing and in the Campaign to Save a Community in Chicago, interrogates the way that people navigate race, class, and status differences within a multiracial coalition of people organizing to prevent the loss of public housing units in the Lathrop Homes community. He also explores the interactions between Black, Latino, and White residents living in the community, which is one of the most demographically diverse public housing developments in Chicago. His research approach consists of ethnographic observations of the Lathrop Preservation Campaign and semistructured in-depth interviews with participants and residents living in the community. His work has been published in the Journal of Poverty and the Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Studies.

Department of History and Geography Jordan Brasher – Assistant Professor of Geography Dr. Jordan Brasher earned his Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Tennessee (2020) with a Graduate Certificate in Africana Studies, his master’s in Geography from Oklahoma State University (2016), and his bachelor’s in Geosciences from Middle Tennessee State University (2014). In addition to a teaching focus in Geographic Information Systems and Sciences (GIS) at CSU, his other areas of interest include cultural-historical geography, settler colonial studies, critical heritage and heritage tourism studies, and Black Geographies. He has regional interests in the U.S. South and in Latin America, especially Brazil, where he conducted his doctoral research. Dr. Brasher is an affiliated faculty in the Columbus Community Geography Center and a Research Fellow with Tourism RESET, a collaborative research and outreach initiative dedicated to identifying, studying, and challenging patterns of social inequity in the tourism industry. His research on the politics of remembering the Confederacy has been featured in widelycirculated national publications such as USA Today, The Washington Post, and The Conversation (US).

Letters & Sciences Today

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4225 University Avenue, Columbus, GA 31907

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 10 Columbus, Georgia

CSU Donor Publishes Novel

By Carey Scott Wilkerson, Ph.D.

Donald L. Jordan of Columbus, GA, whose generous gift to the College of Letters and Sciences created the Jordan Endowment, is also a published author. His latest novel, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, was released in September 2020 by Negative Capability Press.

Framed by the strain of war and the growing pains of the New South, Fearfully is part coming-of-age tale, part ghost story, and at every moment a meditation on small-town life in mid-century America. It tells the story of Skeeter Harding, a 10-year-old boy lost between his hard-knock childhood and the mysteries of the larger world.

Early reviews have been generous, and the book has even attracted the attention of noted critic Don Noble. In his Tuscaloosa News review, Noble points to the autobiographical palette of Jordan’s prose and its relationship to the novel’s title: “Many readers will recognize that the title comes from Psalms, 139: 14: ‘I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful. I know that full well.’ This book seems to me very autobiographical, basically a memoir. It is, however in the form of a novel, a report on Jordan’s childhood simply told in the voice of Skeeter Harding…growing up in Columbus, Georgia, probably late 1940s, and through his innocent voice we get a pretty good picture of life there.”

If Jordan’s novel is the story of a life and a place, then it is also perhaps an account of what time and art can reveal. Noble closes his review with that idea: “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made is straightforwardly told, so much so that no critical unpacking is called for. Skeeter tells his story as a 10-year-old might, out loud, without much introspection or scenic development” yet with “a certain freshness” about it.