H&SS News - 2023

In Brief DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

What is the meaning of life? How do we grapple with the ills connected with the human condition? What constitutes moral living and social justice, and how can these be achieved in our world today? These are just a few of the challenging topics the humanities and social sciences are uniquely suited to answer. Studying the humanities and social sciences helps us better understand who we are, how we can create a better world for ourselves and our children, and how we can make a lasting and positive impact on our world. As we move into a “post-COVID” world, beliefs and perspectives have changed. Workers are seeking jobs that fulfill a purpose; emphasize diversity, equity, and inclusion; and value employee input. Consideration of worker mental health and a focus on creative solutions to problems describe the evolving job market. The skill set inherent in humanities and social sciences—effective communication, critical thinking, adaptability, emotional intelligence, and cultural understanding—is now sought-after and makes our graduates exceptionally well-prepared to the new world of work. This is especially true, given the rapidly growing impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) across all parts of our lives. It is vital that conversations continue about the ethics of AI, including issues of validity, privacy, plagiarism, and transparency; the social and cultural risks of AI, such as human rights aspects and potential acceleration of social inequities; the problems related to misinformation and misrepresentation of historical knowledge through AI-generated responses; and the impact of culture and language on AI output. Our disciplines have an essential role in shaping the forthcoming landscape, and I know our graduates will be up to the task.

FUN FOR WEE (AND GROWN) ONES

Early Childhood and Elementary Education majors in ECE 479: The Young Child’s Play as Educative Processes hosted a spring education carnival in McGarvey Commons for nearly 100 kindergarten students from Erie’s Montessori Regional Charter School. They worked together to create activities that were both fun and educational for the Montessori students and, at the same time, gave these future teachers an opportunity to put skills they have acquired into practice.

"AS I AM" EXHIBIT SHOWCASED LGBTQIA ARTWORK

The arts have long been a refuge and an outlet for individuals from marginalized groups, giving them the room to explore and express their feelings. This spring, Penn State Behrend invited area students to participate in “As I Am,” a LGBTQIA art exhibit curated by Dan Schank, associate teaching professor of English and art. Schank collaborated with Compton’s Table, an Erie advocacy group for queer youth and young adults, to collect and display an eclectic mix of thought-provoking artwork in the college’s Kochel Center.

ON THE COVER:

Dr. Melanie D. Hetzel-Riggin

Marissa Litzenberg, a 2021 History and Political Science graduate, is the project manager for Our West Bayfront, a neighborhood revitalization nonprofit serving the lower westside of Erie.

A $50,000 scholarship endowment will extend the influence of graduate Colten Brown

Colten Brown was a big presence at Penn State Behrend: At 6-foot-7, and often in the weight room, he looked the part when he graduated in 2018 with a degree in Psychology and moved on to a job in the Erie County Office of Adult Probation and Parole.

Those who knew him considered him a teddy bear, however. He’d begin each day by sending Snapchats, Bible verses, and inspirational messages to friends and coworkers.

“He was always one of the first to volunteer to help someone in need,” his brother, Cody Brown, said.

Colten Brown died January 6, 2021, after being hospitalized for COVID-19. He was 24–at the time, the youngest person in Erie County to have died from the coronavirus.

As they grieved, his family looked for a way forward. They organized a memorial golf scramble, with the proceeds becoming the basis for the Colten D. Brown Memorial Scholarship Foundation, which is funding a $50,000 endowment to benefit Behrend students.

Brown arrived at Behrend as a junior, having completed two years of study at Jamestown (N.Y.) Community College. He immediately embraced life at Behrend: He joined the Delta Chi fraternity, worked in the Club Hub, served on the Concert Committee, and was a member of the competitive cheer team. He quickly became known as “Mr. Penn State Behrend.”

A “buddy bench” near the west entrance to Kochel Center is dedicated to Brown. It was funded by friends and fellow students. A “Mr. Penn State Behrend” award recognizes students who embody Brown’s high level of engagement on campus. The scholarships will further expand that legacy.

“These scholarships provide more opportunities to share Colten’s story with future generations of Behrend students and hopefully will inspire them to live like Colten —with an open heart and a passion for sharing joy around Behrend,” said Lindsey Hopkins Hall, associate director of Student Leadership and Involvement.

More information can be found at coltbrownscholarship.com.

FACULTY & STAFF NEWS

NEW FACULTY AND STAFF

The school welcomed three new faculty members: assistant teaching professors Dr. Lauren Liebe, game design; Dr. Erica Edwards, psychology; and Dr. Martin Carrión, Spanish. Two staff members have new roles—Kristen Gincott, financial assistant, and Janice Dernar, academic program assistant—and a new staff member, Breanna McClain, has joined the school as marketing and event coordinator.

HONORS, DISTINCTIONS, AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Dr. Joshua Shaw, philosophy and bioethics, won the Council of Fellows Excellence in Teaching Award. Both Shaw and Dr. Inkyu Kang, journalism and communication, were promoted to the rank of professor. Promoted to the rank of associate teaching professor was Dr. Lisa Jo Elliott, psychology and digital media, arts, and technology. Erin Dick, English, was promoted to the rank of assistant teaching professor.

RESEARCH AND CREATIVE ACTIVITY

Associate professor Dr. Arpan Yagnik, advertising, completed a research sabbatical in India. Associate professor Dr. Joseph Beilein Jr., history, conducted archival research for his forthcoming book on the history of Penn State Behrend.

H&SS faculty produced nearly seventy articles and book chapters, presented more than sixty conference papers and posters, and were awarded research and travel grants totaling $5,667,050. They also published five books:

Dr. David Kahl Jr., communication, Pedagogies of Post-Truth

George Looney, creative writing and English, The Visibility of Things Long Submerged

Dr. Joshua Shaw, philosophy and bioethics, All We Could Have Been and More

Dr. Ashley Sullivan, elementary and early childhood education, and Dr. Laurie Urraro, Spanish, Voices of Transgender Children in Early Childhood Education: Reflections on Resistance and Resiliency

Dr. Arpan Yagnik, advertising, Vateyaksha

New scholarships will honor legacy of ‘Mr. Penn State Behrend’

In Brief

LANGUAGE LESSONS

This spring, Penn State Behrend’s Global Languages and Cultures program and Office of Educational Equity and Diversity Programs teamed up to present a celebration of National Foreign Language Week. The four days of free events included a culture fair, foreign language films, salsa dancing lessons, an Indian mashup dance, and panel discussions on the war in Ukraine, study abroad programs, and more.

Interested in Law? There’s an Adviser for That

No one major is the “correct” foundation for law school, which is why Behrend does not offer a pre-law major. Law schools accept applicants from all majors. Their primary interest is in the skills you acquire during your undergraduate education: the ability to think analytically, reason, solve problems, manage multiple responsibilities, and communicate clearly through the spoken and written word.

Regardless of the degree program a student chooses, Behrend’s new pre-law program adviser, Melissa Shirey, Esq., works with them to select courses that support their career plans.

There are distinct advantages to not pursuing pre-law as a major. If a student should decide not to attend law school, a pre-law major can be difficult to market to employers because it doesn’t demonstrate proficiency in any one area. In contrast, an undergraduate degree in Political Science, English, Chemistry, Accounting, or any one of Behrend’s thirty-eight undergraduate programs confirms a depth of knowledge in a given field.

For more information about pre-law options and considerations, email Shirey at meh143@psu.edu.

MAYMESTER AT THE MOUSE HOUSE

Penn State Behrend students enrolled in the Maymester course, ENGL 105/AMST 105: American Pop Culture and Folklife through the Disney Lens, had a unique educational experience at the home of Mickey himself, Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.

At Hollywood Studios, they learned about immersive storytelling, observing Disney’s strategies for creating narratives through park themes. They were then tasked with developing their own story—including park creation, character development, and costuming—and presenting it to their Disney instructor. At EPCOT, they learned about teamwork and completed hands-on activities that illustrated Disney’s theories on how to work effectively in groups and the value of a positive team dynamic.

Come “home” for the weekend!

Parents, Families & Alumni

Weekend is a highlight of the Fall semester at Penn State Behrend. A celebration for young and old alike, it offers plenty of things to do for students, alumni, parents, brothers and sisters, extended family—everyone!

BEHREND ON CAPITOL HILL

More than a dozen Penn State Behrend students enrolled in PLSC 177N: Politics and Government of Washington, D.C., spent their spring break in our nation’s capital, where they squeezed a lot into one week. They toured many sites and met with legislators, including U.S. Senator Bob Casey and U.S. Representative Guy Reschenthaler, a 2004 Political Science graduate. They also had a question-and-answer session with Romanian Ambassador to the United States Andrei Muraru. It was a fantastic opportunity for students to experience government in action.

The event, scheduled for September 29 through October 1, is the perfect way to celebrate our pride in Penn State Behrend’s past and our excitement about what the future holds. And, in 2023, we have an extra reason to celebrate as we mark Behrend’s 75th anniversary in style with music, fireworks, and more!

A reception for School of Humanities and Social Sciences alumni will be held on Friday evening at Erie Brewing Company in Knowledge Park.

See a full list of activities and register for the weekend at behrend. psu.edu/weekend.

BEYOND GRAMMAR AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Intercultural folklore helps English Language Learners transition to college

For nearly a decade, Penn State Behrend has offered a group of incoming first-year students the opportunity to get a head start on college through Pathway to Success: Summer Start (PaSSS). The six-week program, designed for individuals from underrepresented groups, first-generation college students, and new Americans, gives attendees access to tools and resources that increase the likelihood they will be successful at Behrend.

Among those tools has been English Academy for those in need of grammar or language skills development. Beginning this summer, participants were able to

earn college credit for it.

“We decided to trade the English Academy model for ENGL83S: First Year Seminar in English, which is a credited course,” said Jasper Sachsenmeier, lecturer in composition.

Sachsenmeier tweaked the course to reach English Language Learners (ELL) enrolled in the PaSSS program, specifically.

“We examined works of folklore, covering all four major types: myth, legend, fairy tale, and fable,” he said. “In doing so, we addressed a wide range of important skills and topics from close reading and critical analysis to basic rhetoric and composition to plot and the foundations of human literacy and storytelling.”

Sachsenmeier also incorporated tales from around the world. Students read excerpts from Mallory’s “Le Morte D’Arthur” (King Arthur), selections from Kalila and Dimna (Arabic fables of Sanskrit origin), and even a Wendat creation myth from the Hudson Bay area.

“This intercultural exposure helped engage students from differing backgrounds and demonstrate the legitimacy of nonEnglish literary canons and traditions,” he said. “This is particularly important working with ELL students, who can frequently feel excluded from English-majority classrooms and institutions of higher learning. And of course, it’s a great way to introduce the writing, reading, and speaking skills necessary for success in college.”

LIVE FROM BEHREND, IT’S COMM 406

When television news stations began going “live” decades ago, it required a large broadcasting truck, satellites, and miles of cables and cords. Today, anyone can broadcast events with a livestream that requires nothing more than an internet connection and a camera.

To build viewership, however, there’s another essential ingredient: know-how. That’s why students in COMM 406: Electronic News Gathering and Editing are challenged to cut their livestreaming chops by covering Behrend events.

The class streamed nearly a dozen athletic games this past spring, including men’s and women’s basketball and men’s volleyball. Students rotated through the technical broadcast positions.

“We had two commentators; one did play-by-play and the other did color commentary,” said Tom Deau, lecturer in communication, who introduced the live element in his COMM class this spring. “There was also a director calling and switching the camera shots, three camera operators shooting from three different angles, and a fourth camera that was set on the scoreboard.”

“It’s a win-win,” said Deau. “Athletics fans, alumni, and parents can watch games and other events from near or far, and students in the class get experience perfecting their live camera and broadcasting skills.”

The initial plan was to cover three games, but students enjoyed it so much that Deau added as many other games as they could fit into the schedule, and he looked for other multi-camera event opportunities on campus.

“We recorded two Smith Creative Writers Reading Series events in Metzgar Center, a Ukrainian guest speaker event in Federal House, and a fashion show in McGarvey Commons,” he said. “Each event was student-run and recorded by students using multiple cameras and a video switcher.”

Students reported that they enjoyed having the opportunity to use newly developed skills.

“Live broadcasting allowed us to apply what we learned in class,” said junior Jordan Morschhauser. “I hope to work in athletics after college, and this experience helped me understand the many people involved and how much work goes into streaming a single sporting event.”

To see their work

Scan the QR code or go to behrend.psu.edu/comm406

Building a Better West Bayfront

ALUMNA WORKS TO CULTIVATE COMMUNITY IN ERIE NEIGHBORHOOD

Marissa Litzenberg walked past a couple sitting on a big blue swing overlooking the bay, waved at a neighbor in the picnic pavilion, and talked over the happy shrieks of children cooling off at the Bayview Park splash pad.

“What we do at Our West Bayfront is unique, but how we do it is even more unique,” said Litzenberg, project manager for the neighborhood revitalization non-profit that serves the lower westside in the City of Erie. “Everything that we do is informed by resident input and has been from Day One. We are always in communication with neighbors.”

Bayview Park is not a place you would have found families, joggers, and picnickers six years ago, but today, it is the hub of activity and a shining star for Our West Bayfront (OWB) and its residents. Litzenberg, who graduated from Penn State Behrend in 2021 with degrees in Political Science and History, is one of those residents. She lives in the area she serves, although she didn’t see that coming.

She had planned to work in international law, but her adviser, Dr. Amy Carney, associate professor of history, encouraged her to consider a year of service at OWB through Lake Effect Leaders, an AmeriCorps VISTA grant program that serves as a pipeline for nonprofit leadership development.

“She said, ‘Give Erie a shot for a year. What’s one year?’” Litzenberg said.

When that year was up, OWB offered Litzenberg a full-time position, and she chose to stay.

As a member of a small team, Litzenberg does a little bit of everything—from event planning and management to overseeing the litter committee to helping residents obtain free street trees and porch lights. One only need look at the events calendar at ourwestbayfront.org to see that she is a busy young professional.

Among her favorite events is Porchfest, when an eclectic mix

of local musicians perform on neighborhood porches as visitors stroll from one location to the next or plunk down and relax. A musician herself, Litzenberg enjoys the opportunity to highlight local talent while bringing the community together.

“It’s a chance to get together and celebrate the community that we’re building here with help from the residents,” she said. “We couldn’t do any of it without all the neighbors who volunteer. It’s like a big group project.”

With help from various agencies, entities, and grants, Our West Bayfront has made many impressive physical improvements. More is to come, Litzenberg said, including upgrades to Gridley Park. But the visible changes, like the colorful OWB yard signs

that dot the lawns of residents, are the result of something more profound and hard to put into words, though easy to feel: a sense of community, and of pride.

An upcoming project that illustrates this—literally—is a planned mural at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center that that will celebrate the unique history of the neighborhood and encourage young people to learn and think about their own impact in the community.

“It will bring out a sense of history, which I love, of course, but I’m also excited that kids will see it and be inspired to get involved,” Litzenberg said. “I hope they will look at it and wonder how they can fit into that picture.”

VITAL STATISTICS

Hometown: Volant, Pennsylvania

Student involvement: Tutoring, Model U.N., Schreyer Honors College

Current Behrend involvement: Member of the Advisory Board of the Public Policy Initiative

Perpetual work question: Who are we not serving and how can we reach them?

Most rewarding aspect of her job: Building relationships with residents and being able to help and support them.

Residents first: Anna Franz, OWB’s executive director, encourages all of us to execute the original mission and vision of the organization, which calls for resident input and involvement at every point in a project.

Biggest lesson learned so far: Learning to find my voice in my work.

Hobbies: Biking, hiking, reading, watching history documentaries, and playing saxophone; I play in an Indie rock band called This American Song.

Recognition: 2023 Erie Reader “40 under 40” honoree (eriereader.com)

Website: ourwestbayfront.org

“What we do at Our West Bayfront is unique, but how we do it is even more unique.”

—MARISSA LITZENBERG, PROJECT MANAGER, OUR WEST BAYFRONT

FEATHERING THE EAGLE’S NEST

Partnership expands college’s Open Lab model of learning to Erie school

Forget what you’ve heard about cats and birds being adversaries. The Nittany Lion has landed at Erie’s Eagle’s Nest—forming a partnership that expands the college’s Open Lab model of learning to neighborhoods on Erie’s eastside.

Since programming began in January, Behrend faculty members and students have been visiting the school three days a week, working with students in grades six through eight on a wide range of topics—from developing social skills and emotional intelligence to finding a career path to stargazing through telescopes.

The partnership supports the East Side Renaissance effort, which includes investments in real estate and business development along Erie’s Parade Street

corridor. Organizers are looking to bring a bank, a grocery store, and a social club to the area, which has not been included in other recent economic-development efforts. Fifty-six percent of the neighborhood’s residents live below the federal poverty guidelines.

Behrend’s presence is based at the Eagle’s Nest, which operates a School of Academic Distinction, employability “boot camps,” and group daycare services.

“This partnership reflects Penn State Behrend’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in education at all levels,” Behrend Chancellor Ralph Ford said. “Access to education is key to changing people’s lives.”

The partnership grew out of talks by Ford and Bishop Dwane Brock, a longtime advocate for the neighborhoods

near the Parade Street corridor. Brock is pastor of Victory Christian Center and CEO of the Eagle’s Nest and the East Side Renaissance.

“We’ve been talking for quite a long time about how we can make Erie a better place for everybody,” Brock said. “We want to take the marginalized in our community and give them a sense of worth. This is a way to open doors for them.”

Dr. Melanie D. Hetzel-Riggin, director of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, along with Dr. Greg Filbeck, interim vice chancellor and associate dean for Academic Affairs, and Felicia Presley, associate director of admissions and multicultural recruitment, are working together to coordinate Behrend’s efforts at the Eagle’s Nest, scheduling a variety of programming and presentations.

Faculty members and students in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences have embraced the new collaboration. Several have already presented programming at the Eagle’s Nest in their subject area, from photography to flow painting to animation.

“It’s Behrend walking the walk and meeting Penn State’s land-grant institution mission,” Hetzel-Riggin said. “Faculty and staff members have been happy to get involved.”

New Tools Help Enhance History

STUDENTS ADD NEW DIGITAL FEATURES TO 1925 HARLEM ANTHOLOGY

Alain Locke’s “The New Negro: An Interpretation,” an anthology of the Harlem Renaissance, was both a time capsule and a crystal ball: The book, published in 1925, included writing by Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Claude McKay, and Countee Cullen. Their voices, buoyed by a bold new sense of Black identity, would expand the literary canon.

“They were part of an artistic renaissance,” said Dr. Elisa Beshero-Bondar, professor of digital humanities, “and they were claiming their space.”

A team of Behrend students, working with a group at Framingham State University in Massachusetts, has developed a new way to read “The New Negro.”

Using guidelines established by the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI), including formatting for machine-readable text, the students digitally encoded the anthology’s thirty-seven poems. With color tags, word boxes, and background shading, they created a visual way of modeling the structure and theme of each poem.

“They broke the poems into pieces and applied these visual tags,” BesheroBondar said. “Now, when you read the poems, the colors jump out, signaling different aspects of the writing, from rhyme scheme and repetition to the use

of metaphor.”

A team at Framingham State determined which words or literary devices would be highlighted. The Behrend students, using TEI, simplified the code, developing an ontology—a digital rule book, essentially—that determined how the tags would be categorized. They also created a website, making the encoded poems accessible to the public.

Members of the team presented their work at the Keystone Digital Humanities Conference at Johns Hopkins University in June. They will discuss the project at the MEC/TEI conference in Paderborn, Germany, in September.

As they finished encoding the poems, the Behrend team turned to another feature in “The New Negro”: snippets of sheet music that appear between selections of traditional text. By using the Music Encoding Initiative (MEI), an open-source system for machine-readable music, the students converted the sheet music to MP3 files, which can be played on a computer.

“That was sort of a passion project,” said Zachary Dominick, a senior in the Digital Media, Arts, and Technology program. “We had to manually put in a lot of data—every note, and the chords and accents and all that—but to press ‘play,’ and to hear a song from 1914, that was awesome.”

The ability to hear that music, which fueled so much of the Harlem Renaissance, opens a new path through Locke’s anthology.

“It enhances everything else that is in there,” Beshero-Bondar said. “That’s what you live for in the digital humanities—the opportunity to take something static and breathe a new kind of life into it.”

“It’s what you live for in the digital humanities—the opportunity to take something static and breathe a new kind of life into it.”

DR. ELISA BESHERO-BONDAR, PROFESSOR OF DIGITAL HUMANITIES

Putting Pieces Together in Petra

The March/April issue of Archaeology included a feature on the Petra Pool and Garden Complex, which was selected as one of eight ancient sites around the world that exemplify humanity’s accomplishments in harvesting and managing water. Dr. Leigh-Ann Bedal, associate professor of anthropology, has been leading excavation of the site in Jordan since 1998. (Search “Masters of the Desert—Archaeology Magazine” to read the story online.)

Bedal and a team of eleven, including Dr. Gregory Bondar, lecturer in history, were in Jordan this summer to continue work on the project. They were joined by four Behrend undergraduate students— Sean Dailey, Michael Deutsch, Olivia Prevost, and Brandon Way—as well as Kenneth Kuchtyak from University Park, and a graduate student, Tina Al-Soof, from Queen’s University.

“This was a study season, so we were not excavating,” Bedal said. “We had two main objectives. First, to process and document pottery shards from select trenches and prepare them for publication, which gave the students the opportunity to learn about and participate in pottery drawing and documentation of measurements and wares.

“Second, we completed a survey of archaeological features that were uncovered in previous field seasons,” she said. “Greg used a global navigation satellite system to map in architectural elements such as walls, columns, and water features for the plan and 3D model of the site.”

Student Sean Dailey received a Behrend summer research grant for his work at the site, producing 3D scans of artifacts and experimenting with scanning pottery shards as a method of documentation. Each of the Behrend students received some form of financial assistance to participate in the experience.