Elon College, the College of Arts & Sciences, Annual Report 2014-15

ANNUAL REPORT

for Alumni and Friends 2014-15

LETTERfrom the Dean ELON UNIVERSITY ELON COLLEGE, THE COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

PRESIDENT Leo M. Lambert, Ph.D.

I am delighted to have the opportunity in this brief report to share the accomplishments of the students, faculty and programs in Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences. More than 2,800 students at Elon study in one or more of the 42 majors offered in 19 academic departments. As you will see in this report, our

PROVOST AND EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Steven D. House, Ph.D.

INTERIM DEAN Gabie E. Smith, Ph.D.

ASSOCIATE DEANS Nancy E. Harris, Ph.D. Angela Lewellyn Jones, Ph.D.

students and faculty achieve great things together through mentored relationships

Published September 2015

both in and out of the classroom. Our students are committed to their academic

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coursework while taking advantage of many opportunities to deepen, apply and integrate knowledge through undergraduate research, study abroad, internships, service learning and leadership. Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences, is at the forefront of the university’s efforts to enhance diversity and create an inclusive community. We are committed to helping students fulfill their roles as global citizens.

Our programs offer foundational knowledge with an emphasis on innovative

Elon College, the College of Arts & Sciences Elon University 2112 Campus Box Elon, NC 27244 336.278.6490

pedagogy and curriculum. Surveys of employers consistently support the value of

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an arts and sciences education in today’s changing workplace. There is great demand

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for people who have strong critical thinking and communication skills, and the ability to solve complex problems. In addition, employers stress the need for those with intercultural skills, ethical reasoning and a desire and ability to pursue lifelong learning. This is what we offer students in Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the results are borne out in the success of our students and alumni. We will summarize just a few of these successes in this report.

Please feel free to contact us if you would like additional information about our exceptional programs, faculty and students.

Best wishes,

Gabie E. Smith Interim Dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences

Contents 1 Programs of Study 2 Student Showcase 5 News and Initiatives 9 Embodying the Elon Experiences 12 Faculty Highlights 17 Alumni of Excellence

PROGRAMS of Study Elon College, the College of Arts & Sciences is comprised of 19 disciplinary departments that are organized within three branches:

Arts & Humanities Arts & Art History English Music Performing Arts Philosophy Religious Studies World Languages & Cultures

Natural, Mathematical, & Computing Sciences Biology Chemistry Computing Sciences Environmental Studies Exercise Science Mathematics & Statistics Physics

Social Sciences History & Geography Human Service Studies Political Science & Policy Studies Psychology Sociology & Anthropology

The College houses innovative disciplinary and interdisciplinary programs: African and African American Studies American Studies Arts Administration Major Asian Studies Biochemistry Classical Studies Criminal Justice Studies Digital Art Drama and Theatre Studies Major Engineering 3 + 2 Majors Environmental and Sustainability Studies Geographic Information Systems Geography German Studies Independent Major International Studies Major Italian Studies Jewish Studies Latin American Studies Leadership Studies Middle East Studies Multimedia Authoring Neuroscience Peace & Conflict Studies Poverty & Social Justice Studies Professional Writing Studies Public Health Studies Major Women’s, Gender, and Sexualities Studies We also support pre professional and service advising programs: Health Professions Military Science Peace Corp Prep Program Prelaw Through the curriculum in these departments & progams the College offers 55 majors and close to 30 minors.

Showcase

STUDENT STUDENTShowcase Associate Professor of English Drew Perry, who is a published novelist, served as a mentor to Brianna Duff ’15 during her Lumen Scholar research.

Lumen Prize recipient writes first novel The Lumen Prize, the University’s top award for undergraduate research and creative achievement, enabled Brianna Duff ’15 to combine her love of physics and creative writing. Duff created a fictional story driven by scientific principles. What happens when a black hole appears in a

college town and sets into motion an impossible series of events such as the onslaught of an infectious antimatter disease or the discovery of a girl who can run relativistically? In her novel, I Travel Light, Duff answers these questions and confidently demonstrates how she can weave together her two academic passions in an exceptional first novel.

Biochemistry research earns honorable mention at national conference Taylor Davis ’15 has collaborated for several years with her mentor,Vickie Moore, assistant professor of chemistry, in an examination of the role and mechanism of apoptosis in heart development. In addition to presenting her research at the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology conference, Davis received an honorable mention in the undergraduate research poster competition at the conference.

She is attending medical school at the Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

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Honors Fellow awarded Fulbright to teach English in France Omolayo Ojo ’15, an international studies major and Honors Fellow, is spending a year in Europe working at Lycée Jacques Brel, a school with a multicultural population in the town of La Courneuve north of the French capital. She will continue her study of migration and immigration in one of Europe’s most diverse countries. Following her Fulbright year, she plans to pursue graduate studies in immigration law, migration and development.

Elon College Fellow produces sold-out show Jake Sokoloff ’15, a musical theatre major and Elon College Fellow, produced and performed in February two sold-out performances of a show that was inspired by conversations with his grandmother.

He interviewed his grandmother and a dozen residents of the Village at Brookwood in Burlington, N.C. to form the basis of his original production, “They Can’t Take That Away From Me: Stories from an Unforgettable Generation.”

Sokoloff worked with Professor of Performing Arts Jane Wellford on the project and used music from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s to trigger the memories of the people he interviewed. He eventually set those stories to music from those eras.

Professor of Music Victoria Fischer Faw was a mentor to Nicole Payne Mota ’15 while she conducted her Lumen Scholar research.

Rhythms of Cuba fill Yeager Recital Hall Nicole Payne Mota ’15 showcased her Cuban and Puerto Rican heritage at the culminating recital of her Lumen Scholar research on April 24th. “Que Viva El Ritmo: An Evening of Cuban Music” included musical selections that followed the development of Cuban music from its Spanish and African beginnings. It featured Payne on piano/vocals with special guest artist Felix Sanabria from Miami and Bradley Simmons from Duke University. Next year, Payne will continue her studies at Florida International University, pursuing a graduate degree in piano performance.

Jake Sokoloff ’15

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Lumen scholar awarded UK Fulbright Mary Rouse ’15 is studying strategic narratives at Royal Holloway, University of London, as she works toward a graduate degree in media, power and public affairs. Rouse began her research of the stories political leaders tell about international systems, state identity and policies while studying with Laura Roselle, professor of political science and policy studies. Her honors thesis and Lumen Prize research examined the role hypocrisy plays in international relations.

Elon-Alamance health partners program begins Four Elon graduates are spending the first year of their professional careers in service to the community through a new partnership program with local organizations dedicated to improving the health and well-being of Alamance County residents. Each of the graduates work with one of four Alamance County agencies: Healthy Alamance, Impact Alamance, the Alamance County Health Department and Alamance Regional Medical Center. Elon University and the four partner agencies are funding the program.

Hannah Allen, a public health studies major, is partnering with Alamance Regional Medical Center. Maria Restuccio, an economics major, is partnering with Impact Alamance. Shelby Smith, a public health studies major, is partnering with the Alamance County Health Department, and Catherine Palmer, also a public health studies major, is partnering with Healthy Alamance.

Back, left to right: Hannah Allen, Maria Restuccio, Shelby Smith and Catherine Palmer. Front, left to right: Provost and Executive Vice President Steven House, Stacie Saunders, Alamance County health director, and Preston Hammock, president of Alamance Regional Medical Center.

Patrick Miller. They are both members of The National Society of Scabbard & Blade. Elon University, in cooperative agreement with North Carolina A&T State University, offers an Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program and an Air Force ROTC program for all students. Scholarships are available to students in either program and are awarded based on merit.

Air Force 2nd Lt. Charles Clayton Gooding

Army 2nd Lt. Kevin Patrick Miller

Two graduates are commissioned as officers Two 2015 Elon graduates completed ROTC requirements in the spring and are now commissioned officers, Air Force 2nd Lt. Charles Clayton Gooding and Army 2nd Lt. Kevin 4 I Elon College, The College of Arts & Sciences

Psychology majors score in 88th percentile on field test Senior Psychology majors achieved a mean score on the ETS® Major Field Test for Psychology that placed Elon seniors in the 88th percentile as a class (comparative data is from nearly 26,000 students at 357 institutions). This year’s student score was the second highest score achieved by a class of Elon psychology majors in the past decade.

NEWS&Initiatives

Assistant Professor of Biology Jennifer Hamel helps Emma Eskeland ’17, left, collect juvenile squash bugs at Elon’s Loy Farm for an undergraduate research project examining the insects’ mating behavior.

Significant Growth in the Natural Sciences The McMichael Science Center opened in 1998, and natural science programs continue to show significant growth. Since the facilities opened, there has been a 50 percent increase in the number of declared majors in the natural sciences.

Biochemistry, a recently developed major, already has close to 60 majors. The number of students majoring in engineering has grown 618 percent. Likewise, environmental studies has more than doubled in size since 1998. The growth in these programs is consistent with national trends demonstrating that, over the past 10 years, careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) have tripled in number.

There are positive predictions for the future in that STEM career opportunities are expected to grow at faster rates than other fields. To meet the demand of the growing number of majors, faculty have been added to each of our natural sciences’ departments. These faculty members continue to do a tremendous job providing hands-on learning and undergraduate research opportunities. Students have been recognized nationally for the quality of their collaborative research outcomes, both in terms of being published in peerreviewed scholarly sources and in highly competitive graduate school admissions. The excellence of our faculty has further been recognized with increased grant funding for research in STEM departments (including more than 60 awards, totaling more than $2,500,000).

Curricular innovation is another exciting area of growth: n The addition of outdoor teaching space at the Environmental Education Center enables students to study grow biointensive processes, experiment with green design, and collaborate with field biologists in studies of plants and animals in a Piedmont prairie.

n The molecular biology and chemistry faculty joined forces to create the biochemistry major, which appeals to students interested in health-related fields. n The health professions program is thriving — 96 percent of our students with MCAT scores greater than 29 and a GPA over 3.6 are accepted into at least one medical school. n The engineering program is flourishing, and as a result we are adding a third engineering faculty member next year. The additional faculty member brings a focus on bioengineering, and will provide for additional collaborations between engineering, physics, biology, biochemistry, exercise science and public health.

Due to the growth in the natural sciences, the McMichael Science Center is beyond its capacity to meet the needs of our students and faculty through coursework and scholarly research. The laboratories are currently being used for classroom-based instruction, undergraduate research by multiple students, and scholarly research by multiple faculty.

The school is in great need of additional classroom and laboratory spaces across all of the natural science departments.

Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences, looks forward to a continued partnership with University Advancement as funding is sought to support the growth of the natural sciences departments. The curricular and scholarly potential of these faculty and students is amazing, and it is crucial that ongoing support for these important programs is provided.

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The program began with a track focusing on Environmental Sustainability and Agriculture. This past academic year, the program expanded to include a Global Health track as well.

Both tracks require that students: n Complete the Global Experiences (COR 110) course; n Meet a language proficiency in either Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian or Spanish; n Complete 8 semester hours in courses emphasizing global awareness; Students taking “Advanced Spanish in the Maya Worlds” visited Chichen Itza in Yucatan, Mexico.

Second Language Proficiency The World Languages and Cultures department offers introductory and advanced courses in nine languages: French, Spanish, Italian, German, Arabic, Hebrew, Latin, Greek, and Chinese. Over the past year, faculty and staff members from across campus, in partnership with the department of World Languages and Cultures, have been discussing second language proficiency. Provost and Executive Vice President Steven House convened a committee to make recommendations regarding ways to strengthen and enhance second-language acquisition at Elon University. The committee began with an extensive review of the wide variety of ways in which the university currently supports language acquisition through curriculum and pedagogy (e.g., partnerships between departments and programs such as Business and German Studies, hybrid courses and summer intensive study abroad experiences), language placement processes, and enhanced facilities. Renovations to the first floor of Carlton started over the summer with creation of an expanded student engagement space that emphasizes world languages. Over the next year, the committee will propose a wide range of recommendations that will enable students to strengthen and deepen language skills.

Expansion of Peace Corps Prep Program The Peace Corps Prep Program was established at Elon in spring of 2013 creating a formal cooperative agreement between Elon University and the Peace Corps. The prep program is designed to allow students to complete their preparation for the Peace Corps through a variety of majors in the College of Arts and Sciences with careful selection of the Elon core requirements and electives.

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n Complete 8 semester hours in courses relating to area studies; n Complete 12 semester hours in courses that emphasize track-specific skills needed to succeed in the field and deepen their knowledge in particular areas of application; and n Complete 2 units of experiential learning requirements relevant to their Peace Corp Prep track.

Bennett Driscoll ’18, President Leo M. Lambert, Giles Roll ’18 and Matthew Snow ’18 at the Omicron Delta Kappa awards ceremony.

Inaugural Class of Epicenter University Innovation Fellows At the annual Omicron Delta Kappa awards ceremony this spring, President Leo M. Lambert recognized the first cohort of Epicenter University Innovation Fellows (UIF).

Bennett Driscoll ’18, Giles Roll ’18, Matthew Snow ’18, and Jensen Roll ’16 (not pictured) are among the newest cohort

of American college students participating in this program housed at the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation at Stanford University. The Epicenter University Innovation Fellows are supported by the College of Arts and Sciences and the Love School of Business, as well as the Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership as they explore the program’s impact on the institution.

Epicenter’s UIF program empowers students to become agents of change at their own schools. Participants are part of a community of students who work to ensure that their peers gain the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to compete in the economy of the future. In order to accomplish this, participants advocate for institutional priorities that create opportunities for students to engage with entrepreneurship, innovation, creativity, design-thinking and venture-creation at their schools. At Elon, the four students will explore several possible projects, including: n Creating a crowd-funding platform for members of the campus community; n Supporting student organizations whose missions are related to innovation and entrepreneurship; n Coordinating with organizers of the TEDx program to host a separate event promoting entrepreneurship; and n Developing a campus incubator that will help students feel comfortable brainstorming and prototyping ideas.

Great Year for Mock Trial Team The Mock Trial team had a landmark year in 2014-15 with the group earning more trophies than ever before. The team received an award or recognition at every invitation tournament attended in the fall. Here are a handful of their accomplishments: n Outstanding Witness Award to Kelsey Shulman ’15 at Elon’s Carolina Classic Invitational; n Outstanding Attorney Award to Ryan Lasnick ’15 at Elon’s Carolina Classic Invitational; n Fifth place team trophy at the Happy Valley Invitational hosted by Penn State University; n Outstanding Witness Award to Jenny McRobert ’14 at the Happy Valley Invitational; n Third place team trophy at the prestigious Scarlet and Gray Invitational hosted by Ohio State University;

John Gavin, Lindsey Tipps, Becca Mutty, Ryan Lasnick, David Comerford, Alaina Schukraft and Kelsey Shulman were part of the 2014-15 Mock Trial team.

n Outstanding Witness Award to Justin Liberatore ’18 at Ohio State University’s tournament; n Outstanding Witness Award to Sarah Vates ’18 at Duke University’s Tobacco Road Invitational Tournament; n Team Spirit of Brightleaf Award at Duke University’s Tobacco Road Invitational Tournament; n Outstanding Witness Award to Gabriel Corbett ’17 at the Richmond Regional Tournament; and n One of top seven teams to advance to Opening Round Championships at the Richmond Regional Tournament.

Program and Department Accomplishments 2015 Elon College Fellows represented 10 departments, two interdisciplinary majors and one independent major within the college. The Elon Fellows were Lumen Scholars, Periclean Scholars as well as Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Beta Kappa members. Fellows’ two-year research experiences focused on a variety of topics, including language extinction, genetic diversity of hammerhead sharks and the resilience of children of incarcerated parents. They presented their research at SURF (Spring Undergraduate Research Forum), NCUR (National Conference on Undergraduate Research) and other disciplinary conferences. The Fellows were also involved in

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service on and off campus and held leadership positions in the Student Government Association, the Neuroscience Club, The Pendulum and the Multicultural Center. After graduation, the Fellows took a variety of employment positions, including research assistant, environmental paralegal consulting and bank management. Others are pursuing post-graduate degrees in medicine, veterinary medicine and doctorate programs at institutions such as Wake Forest University,Vanderbilt and North Carolina State University.

The departments of Human Service Studies and Psychology relocated to a renovated facility on South Campus. The building has many unique features, including a dedicated classroom that enables faculty in human service studies to offer workshops to community service partners. For example, the local United Way requested training for their affiliated organizations in order to better develop program outcome measures. The facility also includes psychology research laboratories that meet the needs of students and faculty engaging in a wide variety of specialties.

Dance Magazine named Elon’s Dance Science program one of the top three in the nation, which has led to interest in running a story about the program in an upcoming issue of Dance Teacher Magazine. In addition to our dance program that is housed in the Department of Performing Arts, faculty in dance, exercise science and biology have partnered to create an innovative interdisciplinary major in dance science. Faculty will be taking more than 10 students majoring in dance science to the International Association of Dance, Medicine, and Science conference in the fall.

Scott Studios, the new facility for the Department of Performing Arts, has already made a big impact on the experience of students and the enrichment of our campus community.

Scott Studios is home to Roberts Studio Theatre, Hellman Practice Studios and a large rehearsal/ dance studio. In addition to offering classes in the facility, the department hosted an opening gala in 8 I Elon College, The College of Arts & Sciences

September 2014 and mounted two productions, Antigone and Next to Normal.

The English Department awarded The Betty K. Gerow Scholarship, an endowed fellowship for the first time this past year. English major Lauryl Fisher ’16 was the first recipient.

The Department of History and Geography completed extensive revisions of the history major and minor in order to integrate diversity and global awareness more fully into the curriculum. Students may now concentrate their study of history on non-western topic areas, such as China, Africa and Latin America. Faculty in the department also led a number of study abroad courses in non-English-speaking countries and sponsored undergraduate research completed overseas. Through university service as well, department members led a number of initiatives designed to support students of diverse populations.

The Pre-Law program provides individual advising, LSAT workshops, Mock Trial competition and assistance with law-related internships for students interested in this career path. In 2014 93 percent of students in Elon’s Pre-Law program who applied to law school were accepted and in the last three years, Elon students have been admitted to some of the most prestigious law schools, including Columbia University, University of Chicago, New York University, Duke University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Virginia, University of Michigan, Northwestern University, Cornell University, Georgetown University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Wake Forest University, the College of William & Mary, Emory University, George Mason University and University of Maryland. Many Elon students have received generous scholarship offers from a wide variety of law schools.

The Health Professions advising program continues to provide detailed and current information and advising to students from all disciplines about the myriad of health care career opportunities available through the health professions website and by individual advising. Initiatives to enable early, online identification of student interest in health professions and to track alumni are ongoing. Recent graduates are attending medical school at Johns Hopkins University, University of Massachusetts, Wake Forest University, Ohio State University, University of Alabama and Drexel University. Recent graduates have also been accepted into osteopathic medicine, veterinary medicine, physician assistant, physical therapy and many other health care programs.

Embodying the Elon Experiences Our students benefit from numerous deep experiences with faculty that prepare them for a life of learning. This section highlights faculty and student partnerships in the Elon Experiences, experiential learning opportunities through undergraduate research, study abroad, internships, service learning and leadership.

Internships

Ben Kaiser ’16

Alyssa Romano ’16

Two Elon students, Ben Kaiser ’16 and Alyssa Romano ’16, spent the summer conducting science research at German universities after receiving the highly competitive Research Internships in Science and Engineering (RISE). Kaiser, a physics and mathematics major with minors in astronomy and German studies, and Romano, a biochemistry major with a minor in German studies, were among the 300 students from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom chosen to participate in RISE. After doing undergraduate research where they had the opportunity to work closely with faculty mentors, both students were able to expand on the work they’ve been doing at Elon. Kaiser, who completed a 10-week internship at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics outside of Munich, assisted a doctoral student researching galaxy cluster morphology—the shapes of galaxies and how they relate to other galaxies around them. Romano, spent 11 weeks at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität in Heidelberg, where she worked in the Organic Chemistry Institute. The research group she joined worked on synthesizing new gold catalyst compounds and analyzing how efficiently they speed up specific chemical reactions. This research is directly related to Romano’s ongoing Lumen project.

The Arts Administration major, which allows students to combine artistry and management skills in a seamless manner, was established four years ago and currently has more than 50 declared majors. One of the unique aspects of the program is that students complete an on-campus internship and an off-campus internship. This year students completed off-campus internships at sites such as the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Greenhill Gallery in Greensboro, Alamance Arts Council, the McCarter Theatre, Kearns Dance Project and To the Pointe Dance & Arts Academy. Internships not only provide students with hands-on experiences leading a variety of arts programs, they also frequently result in wonderful career opportunities.

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Left: David T. Han, a student of Associate Professor of Physics Ben Evans, explains his research. Top: Students presenting at SURF in April.

Undergraduate Research Hundreds of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences students present their work at professional conferences and creative venues each year. In addition to conference presentations, students majoring in the arts and sciences made 149 presentations at SURF (Student Undergraduate Research Forum) in April, which were 86 percent of the total presentations made during SURF. College faculty and students also benefitted from intense summer research opportunities, completing 43 of the 45 projects in SURE (Summer Undergraduate Research Experiences) in 2014.

students have the academic rigor of learning about archaeological field methods and ancient Maya culture as well as the experience and excitement of archaeological discovery. The Elon summer field school is a part of a large consortium that hosts students from across every discipline, including anthropology, and from all over the world allowing for a diverse learning experience.

Elon BrainCARE (Concussion Assessment, Research and Education) is an ongoing interdisciplinary initiative, which aims to serve Elon student-athletes while creating opportunities for undergraduate research and educating the community at-large about concussions. Professor of Exercise Science Eric Hall and Caroline Ketcham, associate professor of exercise science, co-direct the program, collaborating with faculty from exercise science, physical therapy education and staff from sports medicine.

Currently, there are 10 students working on various projects and conducting baseline and post-concussion tests with studentathletes to aid in concussion management for sports medicine staff. Elon BrainCARE student researchers frequently participate in SURE (Summer Undergraduate Research Experience) and present their findings at professional conferences.

Study Abroad

Associate Professor of Anthropology Rissa Trachman (left) spends every summer in northwestern Belize conducting research with Elon students at the ancient Maya site of Dos Hombres.

Rissa Trachman, associate professor of anthropology, has developed a summer archaeological field school in conjunction with her ongoing research at the ancient Maya site of Dos Hombres in northwestern Belize that gives Elon students an opportunity to participate in original archaeological research.This past summer, four students accompanied Trachman on her annual trek to Dos Hombres. The field school format ensures that

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The Environmental Studies Department has been very successful in encouraging students to study abroad in environmentally-themed programs. In addition to students attending the School of Field Studies (SFS) and the Organization of Tropical Studies (OTS), the department also offers study abroad courses such as Field Biology in Belize and Sustainable Peru–Microfinance and Agriculture. Environmental Studies students also studied in Australia, Denmark and Israel, as well as the Elon Center in Costa Rica.

Study abroad experiences are an integral part of the International Studies major. In partnership with the staff at the Global Education Center students majoring in International Studies are able to participate in new programs in Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Turkey, India and China. Faculty in the major also support new student initiatives that seek to connect study abroad experiences with international development projects.

Amy Allocco, assistant professor of religious studies, teaches Elon and Maryville College students during a Winter Term 2015 course in India.

Service-learning Mussa Idris, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, leads service opportunities for students residing in the Global Neighborhood to work with refugees in the surrounding community. Through a partnership program with the North Carolina African Services Coalition (NCASC) office in Greensboro, N.C., a nonprofit organization that “provides services to refugees and asylees who resettle in Guilford County,” Elon students

Emmanuel Kwitonda (left) and his family with Elon University students, faculty and staff at a Global Neighborhood house dinner on March 3, 2015

visit refugee families in Greensboro and help them acclimate to their new language, culture and environment. In addition to offering life-changing service learning opportunities, Idris has collaborated with undergraduate research students in examining the resettlement experiences of refugees from SubSaharan Africa and Asia in Greensboro.

Leadership Gabby Vance ’18 was awarded the Sullivan Foundation Leadership Exchange grant and attended the Global Leadership Program (GLP) in Prague, Czech Republic, in July.Vance, a Political Science major with minors in Leadership Studies and Business Administration, was one of approximately 40 students from around the world who learned about global leadership. While in Prague, Vance took classes from international scholars, participated in workshops and cultural activities, traveled on field trips, including one to a concentration camp in Terezin, and engaged in community service. In support of the university’s initiative to create global citizens and informed leaders for the common good, the Center for Leadership awards this grant on behalf of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Foundation, which seeks to cultivate social entrepreneurship skills in university students.

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FACULTY Highlights

and many will not receive them. “What Janet recognizes—and what can be difficult to remember in fellowship advising— is the value of the process for the individual students,” a colleague says.

CASSIE KIRCHER, professor of English, received Elon’s DanielsDanieley Award for Excellence in Teaching. Kircher is described by colleagues and students as a gifted teacher who is inspirational, patient and persistent.

In the more than 20 years she has spent at Elon, Kircher has served as a classroom teacher, student mentor and adviser. She also has held numerous leadership roles, including co-adviser to the Arts and Letters Living/Learning Community, co-chair of the Second Language Proficiency Committee, leader of the Liberal Arts Forum, adviser to Visions and Colonnades, faculty adviser for the Carret Essay Contest, CATL Scholar, Sustainability Faculty Scholar, Service-Learning Faculty Scholar as well as chair of the Academic Council.

CINDY FAIR, professor of Human Service Studies, received Elon’s Distinguished Scholar Award, which recognizes a faculty member whose research has earned peer commendation and respect, and who has made significant contributions to his or her field of study.

As a former social worker at the National Institutes of Health, Fair was very familiar with HIV/AIDS and its impact on children. Since that time, she has focused her academic research on the changes in the HIV/AIDS epidemic over the past 20 years. Her research has resulted in dozens of papers and book chapters published in well-respected academic publications.

JANET MYERS, professor of English, received the Ward Family Excellence in Mentoring Award.

As the coordinator of National and International Fellowships, Myers has been so successful in mentoring students that there has been an exponential increase in the number of students applying for major awards and grants. Recently, the Chronicle of Higher Education named Elon as a top producer of Fulbright students, and this is largely to Myers’ credit.

Students who apply for fellowships face stiff competition,

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Publications, Presentations, Artistic Exhibitions and Performances Elon College faculty published 118 peer-reviewed articles during 2014 and 10 books in 2014-15. In addition, they offered 80 artistic exhibitions and performances and made 214 scholarly presentations of their research.

Book Highlights Role of Music and Poetry in Modern Mexico In Mexico in Verse: A History of Music, Rhyme, and Power, associate professor of history Michael Matthews, along with Stephen Neufeld of Cal State Fullerton, use music and poetry to gain access to the worldviews and beliefs of ordinary people often overlooked in the historical narrative. Matthews and Neufeld examine Mexican history through its poetry and music, the spoken and the written word, from 1840 to the 1980s.

Published by the University of Arizona Press, Mexico in Verse: A History of Music, Rhyme, and Power explores the cultural venues in which Mexicans articulated their understanding of the social, political and economic change they witnessed taking place during times of tremendous upheaval, such as the Mexican-American War, the Porfiriato and the Mexican Revolution. The words of diverse peoples—people of the street, of the field, of the cantinas— reveal the development of the modern nation.

Book Explores the Ways Humans Play Thomas Henricks, professor of sociology, explores the way humans of all ages and cultures play with each other—through sport, games, art and more—and how such activities expand the sense of our own possibilities. “Play” may conjure images of sporting events, checkerboards or swing sets, but when you stop to consider what play entails—following established rules, for instance, or being able to pause, plan and evaluate actions—its importance to human and societal formation quickly becomes clear. That importance is the central theme of Henricks’ new book, and creates a platform to identify conditions that instigate playful behavior and activities.

New Book of Poems

Shawn Tucker, associate professor of art, published an anthology, The Virtues and Vices of the Arts: A Sourcebook. He compiled the first comprehensive source for anyone interested in the virtues and vices, including the seven deadly sins.The anthology includes excerpts from philosophers like Plato, Aristotle and Nietzsche as well as writers like Dante, Chaucer, Langland

Chad Awtry, assistant professor of mathematics was awarded the A.L. Hook Emerging Professorship in Science and Mathematics. The Hook Professorship supports faculty development by funding disciplinary scholarship and mentoring of undergraduate research. Joining the Elon faculty in 2010, Awtry has already distinguished himself as a passionate and productive teacher-scholar whose primary areas of research are prime numbers and polynomial equations. Awtry also was the recipient of the Early Career Mentoring Award from the Division of Mathematics and Computer Science of Council on Undergraduate Research.

Yuko Miyamoto, associate professor of biology, will be the next Japheth E. Rawls Chair for Undergraduate Research in the Sciences. The Rawls Chair supports faculty to engage students in the science of discovery.

Miyamoto’s research interests are in immunology and cancer biology.

Miyamoto is known as a strong advocate for undergraduate research and many of her students have continued their studies in graduate programs relating to health professions.

and C.S. Lewis.

The Virtues and Vices in the Arts: A Sourcebook features images from medieval manuscripts and cathedrals as well as works by artists like Mantegna and Paul Cadmus.While Tucker has provided engaging and insightful introductions for each element in the book, he also clusters the items into logical, chronological sections with introductions that provide context and continuity.

Jeff Clark, professor of mathematics, received the Distinguished Service Award from the Southeastern Section of the Mathematical Association of America.

Kevin Boyle, professor of English, published a new book of contemporary poems, ASTIR. One reviewer (Joseph Miller, author of Blue Rust) wrote: “Kevin Boyle’s poems come at you from a variety of angles: fatherhood, childhood, man in the street. Memories of a Philadelphia neighborhood, a boy with his paper route trying to collect, ice on the Delaware River. These are the poems of an America that’s changing and they cover a long arc of time, diverse in method, restless, inventive. They are not without their dark moments, but Boyle’s generosity and humor keep shining through the lines.”

Virtues and Vices in the Arts

Grants, Awards and Accomplishments Faculty from across the College applied for more than $2 million in grant support during 2014-15. Grants awarded in previous years brought in more than $480,000 in funding for research in Physics and Engineering, Environmental Studies, Biology and Computing Sciences during 2014-15.The largest grant recipient this year is Associate Professor of Computing Sciences Megan Squire, principal investigator on a three-year National Science Foundation (NSF) Computing Research Infrastructure (CRI) grant, in the amount of $240,028, titled “Infrastructure to Enable Mining and Analysis of Open Source Software Engineering Artifacts.”The purpose of the grant is to build a big data infrastructure that will enable advanced analysis of texts used in empirical software engineering research.This project will provide high-quality, very large collections of real developer communication artifacts (for example emails and chat logs), as well as the tools to analyze them and share results between scientists.

Amy Allocco, associate professor and Distinguished Emerging Scholar in Religious Studies, will conduct ethnographic fieldwork to achieve a better understanding of Hindu practices in modern day India. Allocco has been awarded a Fulbright award to live in India next year for her ongoing research into Hindu death rituals. Allocco plans to record performances and dialogues with the dead, and conduct both formal and informal interviews in Tamil with dozens of ceremonial participants.

Annual Report 2014 –2015 I 13

Retiring Professors Awarded Emeritus Status

Ann J. Cahill, professor of philosophy, and Stephen BlochSchulman, associate professor of philosophy, received the 2014 Lenssen Prize from the American Association of Philosophy Teachers for “Argumentation Step-by-Step: Learning Critical Thinking Through Deliberative Practice.” Cahill and Bloch-Schulman presented a pedagogical model requiring students to master cumulative, progressive steps for learning argumentation. Their article was recognized as the best recent research article on teaching and learning culled from about 140 papers found in an international journal, three national journals, an international newsletter and various other sources.

Kristen Mazur, assistant professor of mathematics, was selected as a Project Next Fellow by the Mathematical Association of America—a program geared at supporting new faculty in mathematics and statistics.

Michael Matthews, associate professor of history, was named the first O’Briant Developing Professor in History, a position that supports scholarly work that also inspires students in the classroom. The O’Briant Professorship will assist Matthews in completing two book projects: a history of the working-class and opposition press in Porfirian Mexico and a cultural history of love and courtship, both during the period of 1876-1911. Matthews currently serves as the Coordinator of the Latin American Studies interdisciplinary minor and as Associate Coordinator of the International Studies interdisciplinary major.

14 I Elon College, The College of Arts & Sciences

Gerald Francis, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, Executive Vice President Emeritus and Provost Emeritus, joined Elon’s mathematics department in 1974 as an assistant professor. He served as department chair from 1977-83. He was promoted to associate professor and then professor before becoming dean of academic affairs in 1983. A year later, he became vice president and dean of academic affairs and was named provost and vice president of academic affairs in 1994. During his 15 years as provost, Francis was a principal architect of Elon’s curriculum, and it was his vision that led to the establishment of the School of Law, the implementation of the four-hour course credit system and the move to both the Southern Athletic Conference and the Colonial Conference.

In 2009 he became Elon’s first executive vice president with administrative responsibilities, including day-to-day supervision of admissions, athletics, university communications and special projects as assigned by the president.

Anne Bolin, Professor Emerita of Anthropology, has written and edited four books as well as 35 articles and book chapters since she started at Elon in 1988. She is co-editor of the five-volume encyclopedia, “The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality,” which will be published this year through Wiley-Blackwell Press. Since publishing an ethnography of transsexuals in 1988, she has become a leading authority in the discipline of anthropology and worldwide for the study of gender, sexuality and embodiment. She has taught 19 different courses in three departments at Elon and helped develop many of the anthropology courses. She was the founder of the Program for Ethnographic Research and Community Studies (PERCS) and a founding member of the Women’s and Gender Studies Advisory Council. She also proposed, created and developed the anthropology major and minor at Elon.

David Crowe, Professor Emeritus of History who holds joint appointments in the Elon University School of Law and the Department of History and Geography, is the author or editor of a dozen books, including, “War Crimes, Genocide, and Justice: a Global History,” “Crimes of State, Past and Present:

Government-Sponsored Atrocities and International Legal Responses,” “The Holocaust: Roots, History, and Aftermath” and “Oskar Schindler:The Untold Account of His Life,Wartime Activities, and the True Story Behind The List.” Crowe was awarded the V. Stanley Vardys Presidents’ Prize for Books on Baltic Studies by the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies for his earlier “The Baltic States and the Great Powers: Foreign Relations, 1938-1940.” He also has published numerous book chapters, articles, and reviews on international law, Russia, the Roma, the Holocaust, Jewish history, and Central and East European history. He is the recipient of the Southern Conference on Slavic Studies’ 2010 Richard Stites Senior Scholar Award and Elon’s Distinguished Scholar Award. He has been a visiting scholar at the Harriman Institute at Columbia University and has taught at Central European University in Budapest, Hungary.

He is president emeritus of the Association for the Study of Nationalities at Columbia University and currently serves as chairman of its advisory board.

Elon College Awards The following were honored for their excellent work during the College’s annual meeting in August 2014.

Excellence in Teaching Kim Epting, associate professor of psychology The award recognizes a faculty member who exemplifies the Elon teacher-scholar – outstanding in the classroom, current in the discipline and committed to the intellectual development of students.

Since joining the Elon faculty in 2007, Kim Epting has progressed on a pathway of excellence in teaching. She routinely teaches introductory courses, electives in her specialty such as the psychology of learning and cognitive psychology, upper level seminars such as the empirical research senior seminar, and a transition course on graduate studies in psychology/mental health.

Epting’s student perceptions of learning scores are consistently high. Students find her to have clear goals, and she is lauded for her preparation and organization. Epting challenges students to think critically, supports a respectful class environment, expects students to support assertions with evidence and reasoning, and produces assignments that foster analytical and creative thinking.

Epting continually focuses on mentoring, particularly around undergraduate research. An active and successful scholar, she routinely mentors several students each semester in the process of undergraduate research, and she collaborates with students in developing presentations and coauthored publications. Involving research students as reviewers and in the professional writing process greatly enriches their research experience, deepens their understanding of the process of inquiry and prepares them for a career path.

Excellence in Scholarship Cindy Fair, professor of human service studies Elon College’s scholarship award recognizes a faculty member whose academic work has demonstrated a significant intellectual impact.The university’s teacher-scholar model describes scholarship as “the most fundamental form of professional activity” and Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences values the discovery of new knowledge, the integration and application of that knowledge, and the development of pedagogical innovations.

Cindy Fair is highly regarded reputation in the field is demonstrated by invitations to serve as a reviewer for programs at the National Cancer Institute-Pediatric Branch at the National Institutes of Health, by her co-facilitation of a think tank on Pediatric HIV Reproductive Decision-Making at NIH, and by the development of professional collaborations outside of Elon. She continues to provide service as a reviewer for journals including the Journal of Adolescent Health, AIDS Care, Journal of HIV/AIDS and Social Services, as well as successfully publishing her own work in numerous peer-reviewed outlets, including the International Journal of Childhood Education, the Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health, and AIDS CARE.

Excellence in Service Caroline Ketcham, associate professor of exercise science The annual award recognizes a faculty member who “richly contributes to the ongoing welfare and betterment of the college, university and profession,” thereby upholding the educational mission and leadership valued at Elon University.

Over the past three years, Caroline Ketcham has taken on significant service in her department, as well as served on the Honors Advisory Committee, the Math & Natural Sciences curriculum committee, the Anatomy Committee, the Senior Faculty Research Fellow Selection Committee, the search committee for the Assistant Director of Career Services for the Arts & Sciences, the Neuroscience Program Advisory Committee, the University Appeals Board, the Danieley Neighborhood Council, the Voices of Discovery committee, and the Promotion & Tenure committee. She also took on the role of coordinator of the Health Professions program. Outside of Elon, she has served on the Alamance Regional Medical Center IRB board, and she serves as a reviewer for 11 different journals in her field.

Annual Report 2014 –2015 I 15

New Faculty 2014-2015

Renay Aumiller Assistant Professor of Dance

Eric Bauer Assistant Professor of Biology

Damion Blake Lecturer in Political Science & Policy Studies

Kevin Bourque Assistant Professor of English

Keely Glass Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Jennifer Hamel Assistant Professor of Biology

Jennifer Hart Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Elon Core Curriculum

Mussa Idris Assistant Professor of Anthropology

Adam Kehl Lecturer in Music and Director of Bands

Li Li Assistant Professor of English

Erika Loina Assistant Professor of Psychology

Kristen Mazur Assistant Professor of Mathematics

Carmen Monico Assistant Professor of Human Service Studies

David Parker Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology

Chris Richardson Assistant Professor of Physics

Suzanne Shawyer Assistant Professor of Theater History

Aaron Trocki Assistant Professor of Mathematics

Rena Zito Assistant Professor of Sociology

16 I Elon College, The College of Arts & Sciences

ALUMNIof Excellence

From left, Peter Lindstrom ’94, President Leo M. Lambert, Julie Dyke Ford ’95 and Christopher Nave ’04.

Lindstrom, Ford and Nave received 2015 Elon College Distinguished Alumni Awards during a special April 30 ceremony.

Outstanding alumni from Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences, were honored for accomplishments in their professions and representing our institutional and college values. As President Leo M. Lambert summarized at the ceremony, “What happens in college—the mentoring relationships that develop in college, the passion that is ignited in college, the curiosity that happens during your university experience—doesn’t just enrich these four years.

The work that the three of you are doing, and the lives that you are leading, is an extension of the work of the Elon faculty in a very, very important and profound way.”

Peter Lindstrom ’94

Julie Dyke Ford ’95

Christopher S. Nave ’04

Peter Lindstrom graduated from Elon in 1994 with a triple major in computing sciences, physics, and mathematics.

He then went on to earn his doctorate in Computing Science from Georgia Institute of Technology. He currently serves as a computer scientist and project leader in the Center for Applied Scientific Computing (CASC) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. He is also the editor-in-chief for the Elsevier journal, Graphical Models, and has published extensively in the field of scientific visualization and data compression.

J​ulie Dyke Ford is a professor of technical communication in the mechanical engineering department at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. She graduated from Elon with an English degree in 1995 and later received a master’s degree in English from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1998 and a doctorate in rhetoric and professional communication from New Mexico State University, Las Cruces in 2001.

Christopher S. Nave is an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Rutgers-Camden.

Following his graduation from Elon in 2004, he received a master’s degree in general experimental psychology from Wake Forest University and later a doctorate from the University of California, Riverside. His research interests include associations between personality, health and behavior across the lifespan, person perception and impression management and situational assessment. A prolific scholar, his work is being published in the discipline’s most impactful and selective journals and receiving media attention from the likes of CNN and NBC’s “The Today Show.”

Annual Report 2014 –2015 I 17

The arts and sciences were celebrated May 2, 2015, with a campus festival featuring music, dancing and educational activities that introduced children to everything from chemistry to anthropology. The “Explore the World� extravaganza presented around the Center for the Arts and Lake Mary Nell is an annual event hosted by Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences, that is designed to spark curiosity and provide a deeper understanding of the arts and sciences.

Elon College, the College of Arts & Sciences 2112 Campus Box Elon, NC 27244 www.elon.edu/elon_college ElonUniversityCollegeOfArtsAndSciences ElonArtScience