Petree Dish —Fall 2014

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OCU’s mission Oklahoma City University embraces the United Methodist tradition of scholarship and service and welcomes all faiths in a culturally rich community dedicated to student success. Men and women pursue academic excellence through a rigorous curriculum focused on students’ intellectual, moral, and spiritual development to prepare them to become effective leaders in service to their communities.

On a global mission of service As you read this edition of the Petree Dish, you can readily see that the Petree College of Arts and Sciences’ students, faculty, and staff are contributing superbly to our shared mission to prepare our students to be of service to others in a culturally rich and diverse world — a world with tremendous challenges and opportunities that our entire academic community is engaging with creativity, critical thinking, and compassion. Our faculty and students commonly receive local and state recognition for their achievements, but their accomplishments and service are also national and global in importance and reach.

When students come to study at the Petree College of Arts and Sciences, they come to study in Oklahoma City, but they study the whole world and new worlds are opened to them.

With increasing opportunities for international education experiences in Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa and access to some of the most competitive and life transformative academic internships in cities like Boston, Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C., the whole world is our context for

learning. Petree College students are receiving top fellowships and scholarships at the finest graduate programs in the world, while our own graduate programs continue to grow in reputation and prestige, attracting students from across the country and world. Our faculty’s scholarship and service are also being recognized for excellence time and time again, both locally and beyond.

This edition of the Petree Dish provides a glimpse into the remarkable community, state, and global impact of your college of arts and sciences. Thank you for your part in helping us make the Petree College of Arts and Sciences a difference maker in so many people’s lives.

Sincerely,

Mark Y. Alex Davies, Ph.D. Dean, Petree College of Arts and Sciences

INSIDE Follow us! facebook.com/PetreeCollegeofArtsandSciences @PetreeCollege on Instagram and Twitter

deadCENTER films: Alumnus as Frankenstein

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Poetry is served Destination: Harvard Local humanitarians Examining cell biology Lincoln portraits

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ARTS & SCIENCES

New PA program to reduce health provider shortfall Oklahoma faces a critical shortage of health care providers, and OCU will help meet the need with its new physician assistant program starting in January 2016.

Applications open in January, and the program will accept 40 students, said program coordinator Amber Hicks. More information is available at okcu.edu/physician-assistant.

The PA program “adds another dimension to OCU’s offerings by bringing us into health care delivery on the medical side, in addition to our already established programs in nursing,” Hicks said.

The National Governors Association recently released a report encouraging states to increase their use of PAs. “PAs are an important component of developing strategies to deliver health care more efficiently and effectively,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said in an NGA press release.

Dr. Dan McNeill is helping develop OCU’s PA program. He formerly directed the PA program at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. He was hired as a neuroscience researcher at OU in 1988 and became director of the PA program in 1994, a position he held until retirement in 2013.

OCU is the second school in Oklahoma to offer a PA program.

ARTS & SCIENCES

Celebrate faculty at OCUCreates Look for this annual event coming in March 2015. We will celebrate faculty members and their published works— from books and art to music and film— at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. More information will be available at okcu.edu as the event approaches. The event is open to the public.

Travis Warford, MHS, PA-C, OCU Class of 1998, works as a physician assistant in orthopedic surgery in Midwest City.

The U.S. Labor Department projects a 30 percent increase in employment for PAs over the next seven years, the highest average rate for all occupations. About 90,000 PAs practice in the U.S., with 1,200 working PAs in Oklahoma.

Also in this year’s rankings, OCU was one of two schools in Oklahoma named to the West regional A-Plus Schools for B Students list, along with ranking No. 7 for Best Regional University for Veterans in the West, one of two schools in the state and the highest ranking in Oklahoma. Schools on the A-Plus Schools for B Students list are noted for accepting outstanding applicants whose scores are not “A.” The colleges and universities included in the list see great potential in these students and help them achieve their goals.

HUMANITIES

Higher learning U.S. News ranks OCU among top schools This fall, U.S. News and World Report ranked OCU 25th among Best Regional Universities in the West, the highest rank of Oklahoma universities in the category.

Regional universities include those that offer a full range of undergraduate and master’s degree programs.

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Angela Austin, BA ’93, won a one-year Country Scholarship to complete a master of literature in Scottish history at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. The postgraduate scholarship, worth £5000, is awarded based on academic record, achievements, and an essay. At OCU, Austin was the Nellie Melton Scholar for the English department one year, and she was a member of the International English Honor Society, Sigma Tau

Delta. She plans to pursue a doctorate, write historical books, and teach at the university level.

Good read Reader’s Digest has listed alumnus Brandon Hobson’s new novel Deep Ellum among its “Best Short Books You’ll Ever Read,” and the book also Deep Ellum made Entropy website’s “10 Best Novels of the First Half of 2014.”

Deep Ellum is his second novel, and he has published numerous short fiction pieces. Last year he published a nonfiction piece about Oklahoma tornadoes, “Yellow Sky,” in The Paris Review. Hobson, BA ’92, is an assistant professor of English at Northern Oklahoma College and is completing his Ph.D. at Oklahoma State University.

HUMANITIES

Short Order Poets serve up ‘fresh and hot’ verses A poem written in 10–15 minutes at the August H&8th Night Market

Professors, students, and graduates of OCU’s English and Red Earth MFA programs jotted off verses on typewriters at the Short Order Poems table at the monthly Midtown Oklahoma City H&8th Night Market three times this fall.

August's event featured the talent of the Red Earth Master of Fine Arts.

Local poets Chad Reynolds and Timothy Bradford, Red Earth MFA guest faculty, started the service this year at the food truck-focused street festival, taking orders from “a rotating menu of poetry served fresh and hot off vintage typewriters,” according to the blog shortorderpoems.tumblr.com and October poet Brooke Hessler, professor of English.

Karen Schiler, assistant professor of English, said the poetry-for-order model mimics the work of ancient poets such as Homer. “Want to celebrate your marriage?

Or the birth of a nephew? Hire a poet to write about your life and its goings on!” she said in an interview on the blog.

“These short order poems are a great way to bring back that combination of technical practice and public interaction.”

At the August H&8th Night Market in Midtown Oklahoma City, poets David Bublitz, Quraysh Ali Lansana, Josefine Green, and Rob Roensch take 10–15 minutes to write poems on the spot for patrons. Photo by shortorderpoems.tumblr.com

ARTS & SCIENCES

HUMANITIES

Icy water for a cause

Headliner: Mass Communications graduate advances

Associate Dean of Arts & Sciences Amy Cataldi accepted the popular ice bucket challenge, dedicating the gesture to professor Elaine Smokewood, who passed away from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, in 2011. Cataldi encouraged donations be made to the Dr. Elaine Smokewood Memorial Scholarship by visiting okcu.edu/onlinegiving/ and choosing the fund from the menu of gift options.

Hailey Holloway, BA ’13, is quickly moving up in the world of broadcast journalism. She recently accepted a job as an investigative reporter in Knoxville, said Wendy Brunner, associate professor of broadcasting.

“This is an enormous career move Hailey Holloway, BA ’13, reporting for Gainesville Television Network in and exceptionally rare south Florida.

Holloway also contributed to a story for someone only one about a missing girl for Discovery year out of college,” Brunner said.

Investigates, Brunner said. Previously, she In August, Holloway covered the highreported for Oklahoma’s live travel show, profile Pedro Bravo trial in south Florida OklaVision, and in 2013, she covered the in her job as a reporter for Gainesville Moore tornado for CNN. Television Network.

Wish Upon a Weird Star

By Rob Roensch OCU Assistant Professor of English

Josefine Green, a Red Earth MFA student and an August Short Order Poet, told the blog: “It feels raw and honest, and in many ways, there’s actually less pressure. It’s a fun concept.”

David R. Bublitz, MFA ’14 and an August poet, described Short Order Poems as an opportunity to hone his craft. Rob Roensch, assistant professor of English, and Quraysh Ali Lansana, Red Earth MFA faculty member, also contributed as poets.

What if you wished for a dog,

But got ten sea otters?

What if you wished for a new hat,

But got socks made of firecrackers?

What if you wished for a new bike,

But got thirty tricycles made of diamonds?

What if you wished for a piano,

But got a talking fork named Esther?

What if you wished for a dollhouse,

But got a dumptruck full of Skittles?

What if you wanted to take all your friends bowling

But the bowling alley was closed?

Just have a party in your driveway.

There is nothing more awesome than

An otter riding a diamond tricycle.

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SOCIAL SCIENCES

U.S. diplomat in the making Alumna DeEtta Cravens has begun a master’s degree at Harvard University on an approximately $90,000 fellowship from the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Program.

The Rangel fellowship helps students receive appointments as Foreign Service Officers after supporting them through two years of graduate study, internships, and professional development, according to rangelprogram.org.

Cravens plans to focus on youth and education issues in developing nations during her master in public policy studies in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

“I really believe that education of youth is one of the most productive ways to transform society,” Cravens told The Oklahoman newspaper this year. “I think that education truly has the power to transform a life.”

Cravens graduated from OCU in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish, Philosophy, and Political Science. As a student, she studied international affairs in Chile and studied Portuguese in Brazil as a David L. Boren Scholar.

She was also a 2010 Rangel Scholar, spending the summer in Washington,

Following graduation from OCU, DeEtta Cravens spent a year in Thailand as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant. Here, local children dressed her up in one of seven Thai costumes from different regions and time periods. Photo provided by Cravens

D.C., learning about foreign policy and international affairs. In the United States, she participated in opportunities with an international focus, including the United Nations Association and OCU’s Multicultural Student Association.

Following graduation, she spent a year in Thailand as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant.

“We are thrilled to have DeEtta as part of the program,” said Rangel director Patricia Scroggs. “She brings a strong academic and professional background, as well as a longstanding commitment to service. I have no doubt that she will excel in graduate school and make important contributions to promoting global peace and prosperity as a U.S. diplomat.”

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Alex McNay Political Science Senior

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“Oklahoma City University has been instrumental in preparing me for everything I’ve experienced in my college and professional career. My professors have challenged me as well as given me the confidence to take on a variety of activities outside the classroom. This summer I had the privilege of interning for a senator from my home state of Kansas. While working in Washington, D.C., my responsibilities included researching legislation, drafting reports on hearing or committee meetings I had attended, responding to constituents, and giving tours of the Capitol.

“Through participation in OCU’s various activities, such as the Parliamentary Debate team, and letters of recommendation by faculty, OCU’s Political Science department has helped me achieve my goals and prepared me for anything that I may face in the future.

“After I finish my undergraduate degree in political science, I plan on pursuing a master’s degree in international security and counterterrorism at a school in or around Washington, D.C. I believe that the academic foundation I have built while at OCU will help me to successfully reach that goal.”

FACULTY & ALUMNI

Professor, alumna honored for humanitarian work Luminaries of OCU continue to lead the way in human rights and social justice efforts.

The Oklahoma Center for Community and Justice honored Imam Imad Enchassi, OCU chairman of Islamic studies and chaplain, and alumna Jan Peery, the CEO of YWCA Oklahoma City, with the Oklahoma City Humanitarian Awards in September.

The award, given to five people this year, honors those “who have shown exemplary leadership and courage in living the OCCJ mission of promoting respect and understanding for all people,” according to OCCJ’s website.

The center recognized Enchassi for his

commitment to human rights and interfaith dialogue, and his education and outreach to Muslim and non-Muslim communities Peery throughout Oklahoma. Enchassi is the senior imam for the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City.

Peery, BA ’99, received the award for her work in social justice and in establishing the YWCA as a leading

SOCIAL SCIENCES

EDUCATION

Speaking on Native Americans

Teaching gurus

OCU’s Political Science department celebrated Constitution Day on September 17, inviting three panelists to speak on Native Americans within the American Federal System. The panelists were Valerie Devol, an Oklahoma Cityarea attorney; Joseph Williams, an OCU Law School graduate, a Choctaw, and an attorney in private practice; and James Collard, the community development director and chief of police for the Citizen Potawatomi Nation in Shawnee.

HUMANITIES

Improving their high school yearbook game OCU hosted the Herff-Jones’ regional “We Speak Yearbook” workshop this summer for 117 high school yearbook students and 17 advisers. The event covered topics from theme development and photography to marketing the yearbook. The students toured the Mass Communications department and learned about OCU admissions, programs, and scholarships.

OCU will begin offering a Master of Arts in teaching focused on Elementary Education in the summer of 2015. The program is intended for people with bachelor’s degrees in any field who want to become certified elementary teachers. Students will complete teacher certification during their first year in the program, taking 30 hours of coursework, gaining field experiences, and preparing a portfolio. The second year is designed to be taken during students’ first year as teachers. This master’s portion of the program includes classes in research methodology and actual research projects in the teachers’ own classrooms.

FACULTY

Publications • Stephen Prilliman, chair of Chemistry — “Integrating Particulate Representations into AP Chemistry and Introductory Chemistry Courses,” an article in the Journal of Chemical Education.

• Tracy Floreani, chair of English — Fifties Ethnicities: The Ethnic Novel and Mass Culture at Midcentury. This analysis

provider of domestic violence and sexual assault services in Oklahoma, according to OCCJ. At the YWCA, Peery started a Enchassi dating violence prevention education program, the Oklahoma County Task Force on the Prevention of Domestic Violence, and Domestic Violence Education groups for females incarcerated in Oklahoma Department of Corrections facilities.

and series of comparative readings draws on novels, television programs, movie magazines, and films “to show how literature and mass media worked to mold concepts of ethnicity in the 1950s,” according to publisher Suny Press. “Floreani investigates how the writing of ethnic identity called into question the ways in which signifiers of Americanness also inherently privileged whiteness.” This book is recommended

by CHOICE to “those interested in race theory, modern American popular culture, or consumer culture.”

• Rob Roensch, associate director of OCU’s MFA in Creative Writing — The Wildflowers of Baltimore, a collection of stories published by Salt. This debut collection won the International Scott Prize for Short Stories. Salt describes the collection as “stories about young men on high-stakes searches for love, truth, and understanding.”

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MATH AND SCIENCES

Undergraduate spends summer in research haven Cell and Molecular Biology senior Christina Hansen conducted research at Harvard Medical School as one of eight undergraduates chosen for an inaugural program intended to advance the labs and students’ careers, according to Harvard and Hansen.

“Students not only spend ten weeks in the lab gaining hands-on experience in biophysical research methods, they also participate in a summer course, practice their presentation skills, and attend a structural biology retreat in Cambridge,” said Piotr Sliz, an associate professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, which created the BCMP Summer Scholars Program.

Hansen worked in Stephen C. Harrison’s

Christina Hansen in front of Harvard Medical School this summer. Photo provided by Hansen

structural cell biology lab and was one of two students to receive funding from Harvard’s Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program, she said.

A solid preparation Torrie Flynn, BS ’14, was accepted into two pharmacy schools and is attending Regis University in Denver.

“The chemistry classes I took at OCU helped me prepare for admission and classes at pharmacy school better than I think any large university ever could,” she said.

OCU professors “are so personable and willing to help and challenged me to make sure I knew my material. … Everyone wants you to succeed and graduate!”

Flynn majored in Biochemistry at OCU and was captain of the volleyball team.

Letter from grad school To Saeed Shadfar, Physics professor:

“I just wanted to say thank you for all the help you provided over the course of my undergraduate years. You really helped me through all of my classes and went 6

“Dr. Harrison is huge in this field,” Hansen said in a Harvard news release.

“His name is in textbooks. It’s a rare opportunity to learn from such an esteemed researcher.”

Hansen completed two previous summer research programs, and her work at Harvard “took it to the next level, to what it’s like to think as a scientist,” she said. “I’ve loved being forced to think about why I’m doing something and having to come up with questions.”

She would like to work as a biomedical researcher, full-time scientist, and collegelevel professor, she said. “I also hope to promote scientific education for the public and at the K-12 level through outreach, speaking engagements, and writing.”

Teaching chemistry to the next generation

Chemistry Chair Stephen Prilliman with student Emily Webster. Photo by Josh Robinson, OCU

above and beyond. You gave me the tools to succeed, and I have done my best to make you proud. Beyond the stupendous academic lessons that you gave me, you also taught me life skills every day. I am so glad that I had the honor to meet you and be taught by you. You inspired me to do

Becoming a chemistry teacher just got easier. To help address the shortage of high school chemistry teachers, the OCU Chemistry Department streamlined the courses for the certification in education and built in the education courses instead of requiring students to take those separately, according to department chair Stephen Prilliman. Since the change, several students have already begun coursework in biology and chemistry education.

The new chemistry education degree is in place, and Prilliman would like to secure funding for scholarships.

“I think this is going to be a great program for us,” he said. “… Every student we generate will have their pick of jobs.”

great things with my life, and I certainly hope that I will accomplish these things. I will never forget the lessons that you gave or the lectures that I loved.”

—Patrick Hylton, OCU BS ’14, Master of Engineering student, University of California, Berkeley

SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS

Filmmaking pioneer named ‘Icon’ at deadCENTER deadCENTER Film Festival in Oklahoma City honored Fritz Kiersch, Moving Image Arts Department chair, as one of four 2014 Oklahoma Film Icons this summer.

“Our icon award is meant to shed a light on the breadth of Oklahoma film talent and inspire the next generation of filmmakers and film professionals,” said Lance McDaniel, the festival’s executive director, in a deadCENTER news release.

Kiersch launched the department at OCU after founding Oklahoma’s first comprehensive film program at Oklahoma City Community College.

At the festival, Kiersch hosted a 30th anniversary screening

of the Stephen King horror classic “Children of the Corn,” which he directed. Along with George Parra, executive producer of “American Hustle” and “Silver Linings Playbook,” Kiersch also led a discussion about the future of moving images, according to the news release. deadCENTER, celebrating its 14th year, is Oklahoma’s largest film festival, according to deadcenterfilm.org.

Kiersch

Write for the big screen

Three OCU alumni acted in the movie “Army of Frankensteins,” which played at deadCENTER.

OCU at deadCENTER • Lance McDaniel, MLA ’07, is executive director of the festival. He directed one of this year’s films, “Light From the Darkroom,” working with OCU alumni Nathan Gardocki, producer, BFA ’10; Jon Roman, co-producer, film production ’11; and Jonathan Gardocki, second assistant director, BFA ’14.

• The documentary “Harmontown,”

by Neil Berkeley, BA ’98, played at the festival.

• Eric Berger (screen name Eric Gesecus), BA ’78, starred as Frankenstein in “Army of Frankensteins,” and Mike Samples Waugh, BA ’85, and Aaron Bushong, BM ’10 and MM ’13, also acted in the movie that screened at deadCENTER.

Hollywood lighting pro shares industry wisdom Steve Mathis, a major Hollywood gaffer for dozens of movies, visited this year’s Moving Image Arts picnic to meet students and answer their questions.

Mathis, a friend of department chair Fritz Kiersch, has worked on or been responsible for lighting for “Terminator: Genisys”; “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”; “Ted”; “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids”; and many more. His lighting credits go all the way back to “Back to the Future.”

Starting in January, people interested in movies, television shows, and the broader communications realm of moving images can earn a master of fine arts in screenwriting from OCU. The degree is designed for people who require a flexible learning schedule but want a close student-mentor relationship with their professors, said Fritz Kiersch, chair of the Moving Image Arts Department.

Students will enroll in three to four distance-learning courses for each of four semesters. Five 10- to 14-day residencies—four on the OCU campus and one in Los Angeles—will allow students to apply their studies and to develop professionally.

The master’s degree program will provide the opportunity for students to work intensively with the support of established screenwriters and filmmakers in a variety of art forms, including short and feature-length films, episodic television, and mini-series. Students will explore the intricacies of story structure and character development. They will work closely with faculty mentors to create a successfully written screenplay using dialogue, vision, and imagination to create a written story that can be turned into a moving image.

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SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS

Illustrating history Art Department Chair Mike Wimmer took a “Lincoln pilgrimage” this summer in preparation for illustrating his third historical children’s book in the Mount Rushmore series written by former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating.

Wimmer visited Lincoln’s birthplace in Kentucky; his cottage at the Soldiers’ Home in Washington, D.C.; the home and farm of his father and stepmother; his home and law offices; and finally the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Ill., for research and immersion into Lincoln’s life, he said. Lincoln is scheduled to be published in fall 2015 by Simon & Schuster. Previous books in the series are Theodore and George about Roosevelt and Washington, respectively.

Wimmer is also garnering attention for another painting, “President Teddy Roosevelt Signing Statehood Proclamation.”

In a recent issue, Oklahoma Magazine recognized the painting as influencing Oklahoma’s history and molding its identity.

The painting depicts the signing of Oklahoma’s statehood proclamation on Nov. 6, 1907. It hangs at the state Capitol.

Art Department Chair Mike Wimmer took a research trip this summer to prepare to paint illustrations for a forthcoming children’s book on President Lincoln. Photo provided by Wimmer