SHSS Fall 2014 Newsletter

School of Humanities & Social Sciences

Newsletter FALL 2014

Letter from the Dean Hello everyone, Wherever you are, I hope fall has been beautiful and inspiring.

Colorado is in the midst of a colorful Indian summer. I attended a conference in Breckenridge recently and felt as if the world was G-d’s canvas, and I was privileged to live in this piece of art.

We are moving forward on many of our agenda items. The research librarians have agreed to work on a “Ranger Writing” site in response to student requests for report exemplars and citation information. We have re-worked the JOOC, complete with logo and gifts, and plan to add more unique content.

Please visit the site, rujesuit.regis.edu, and join our beta test! We are moving forward with creating a virtual student lounge and will ask the student advisory board for more input. There is still room on this board if you wish to join. We are also creating more fiveweek undergraduate classes, enlivening our online courses, and exploring more current and exciting new courses.

We hope you enjoy this issue of the newsletter. We are trying a few new tweaks and would love your feedback.

Elisa Robyn Dean, School of Humanities & Social Sciences

School of Humanities and Social Science team shows their Regis spirit.

NOVEMBER

20

NOVEMBER

20

NOVEMBER

27 & 28

Regis University Closed for Thanksgiving Holiday

JAN – DEC

Event Calendar

24 2014 01

Regis University Closed for Christmas & New Year’s Holiday

2015

Mosaic Writing Community

WC3 – Wine, Chocolate and Conversation

6 p.m. - Clarke, Room 307

4:30 p.m. – 6p.m. – Clarke, Room 339

Water & Recurring Crime Waves Jim Ponzi

I

n both literature and religion water often symbolizes life.

More specifically, fresh water may represent the good in life and polluted water the bad.

The ocean is often used to symbolize all life because life originated in the oceans, and, like life, the ocean can be unpredictable and uncontrollable. Water (like crime) takes many forms; rivers, lakes, waterfalls, ponds, rills, brooks and streams. I have never seen crime compared to water, but I know it is a good vehicle for washing a crime scene or scattering riotous crowds. Water can also be used allegorically to tell a story about criminology.

Criminological theory encompasses many reasons why people commit crimes; a number of these can be related to water. In literature, the ocean represents humanity, both good and bad. There are many different kinds of water flowing into global oceans, and they can be beneficial or harmful.

Individual Trait Theory says criminals differ from non-criminals on a number of biological and psychological traits. Crime results when people with these traits interact with the social environment. This social environment can be equated with the ocean (life) when it is polluted by bad water (criminal perpetrators) flowing into it; a polluted ocean continues to thrive just like the social environment can counterbalance the influx of bad individuals.

Differential Association and Social Learning Theory discuss crime in a way that is similar to polluted waters merging and becoming more toxic. Criminological theory says crime is learned through associations with criminals who approve of criminal misconduct in general or are willing to justify it. Social Learning Theory says interaction with other criminals is a major cause of crime because it will be repeated or become chronic if reinforced. It reminds me of polluted rivers and streams merging and flowing into the ocean, and the potent effect criminal conspiracy has on the social environment.

Social Disorganization Theory says disorganized communities cause crime because informal social controls break down and criminal cultures emerge. Doesn’t the same thing happen when streams and lakes flow out of their beds? Furthermore, Deterrence Theory holds that crime will likely decrease if the cost of committing that crime increases. The criminal justice system is like a dam that holds back the rivers of polluted water. It may leak occasionally, but generally keeps the criminal element from overwhelming the community. Since water is chameleon-like in its ever changing forms, the criminal justice system must constantly change to keep pace with new waves of innovative crime.

Affiliate Faculty Spotlight An Epic Classroom Moment Susan Kramer, Affiliate Faculty

T

here is famous song by Whitney Houston, “One Moment in Time.” She seems to be speaking to the heavens when she says, “Give me one moment in time when I’m more than I thought I could be.” That moment came for me on August 20, as I facilitated the final class of MNM 670, Financial Resource Development. As a graduate of the Masters in Nonprofit Management degree program and now as a facilitator, I am aware of the generosity and dedication to service within this program. However, this one moment surprised even me.

As a scholar/practitioner, I strive to balance theory and practice in every class. While students must understand the underlying foundation of fundraising, to be successful they must develop into professional fundraisers and that means they need experience doing it. So, for part of each class, I attempt to create a real life experiences in the classroom.

Week one, class one, I launched the Zebra purse campaign. The idea was that each week, students and instructor contribute to the purse. During the final class, students present their final fundraising plan for a nonprofit and the dollars raised will be allocated to one or more of the agencies as selected by the class.

The first night I passed the purse, the students contributed. Week after week, out came the purse.

Each time each of us dug in our pockets and bags for loose change and money to give. Our final total on the last night of class was $109.02. How cool!

One student commented, “It was weird at first. I didn’t like it, but as the weeks went on I was better with it. I got used to being a giver. Then I became a bit competitive. I wanted my non-profit to receive the money in the purse so giving potentially had the reward.”

Everyone felt it was a good experience and no lifestyles changed as a result of raising $109.

Now came the hard part. Each member presented their final project and made the argument for donating to a specific non-profit organization. One student asked, “How do we decide? Based on need, based on case, or based on who we like the best?” These were wonderful questions. How do people decide? What happened next was amazing.

Two of the students removed their non-profits from the allocations. That left four potential recipients. I chimed in that because one of the students fundraising project was birthed in our class, I felt responsible for that success. I stated I would give $100 to it, and then the purse could be divided by three.

Another student was inspired. She also removed her nonprofit and pledged her own money to two of the nonprofits in the class. We were now up to $400 raised in the classroom, and a purse that could be divided by two. One at a time, the students began to pledge gifts to the nonprofits in

the class and before you knew it we had raised more than $900. We pushed past $1,000 when a guest speaker in the classroom gave $100.

Why did this feel so good? We had become a community. We learned the case for giving to each of these organizations. Our hearts were opened. We learned to feel grateful for what we have and the abundance of what we have been given. That gratitude turned to generosity. We were the real time, real life experience of the theory of how to build community and steward donors.

This experience will live with each one of us who was in the room that day. Many students said it was “genius” and they were going to take it to their boards and professional teams. No, this was not genius. For this brand new facilitator, it was one moment in time when theory and practice aligned perfectly to create something wonderful. Now my goal is to recreate these experiences time after time.

On a personal note I want to thank the Regis faculty with entrusting me with these students’ minds and the possibilities we could create together.

Faculty Spotlight - Marty McGovern Marty McGovern, Ph.D., is an associate professor of creative writing and literature at Regis University. A playwright and poet, McGovern recently learned that his poetry collection “Bad Fame” will be published in late November by Able Muse Press. He spoke with Regis University Alumni Magazine about the collection and Regis’ new Mile High Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing, a program he co-founded.

Congrats on the collection. Is there an overarching theme to it? Thanks. I think the theme is the fragility of human life and human consciousness, the fragility of sanity, and the strength it takes to love and stay alive, to fail at love and to succeed at it.

Is there a line from the collection that represents what you are trying to communicate? These might not be the best lines, but I think they represent the collection well: “You are my flesh – my brother, my sister – yes, you are/my flesh. And I want to see you, tomorrow, and to bless you/and to bless you again and again and again. Always alive.”

Marty McGovern

A lot of the poems are about people in some pretty bad places, and some good places, and about wanting these people (including me) to embrace life and live joyously.

How excited are you that the Mile High MFA will launch in 2016? I am shimmering with excitement as we speak (really)!

What makes the program unique? It’s a low-residency program, meaning students will be on campus twice a year and do the rest of their writing/reading from home, wherever that may be.

Another thing that will set us apart is that by the time a student is finished, she or he will have not only a publishable manuscript, but a written blueprint for incorporating a community-based writing project into their home communities.

What’s On Your Nightstand?

Book Review

By Ben Closson

“Can’t, Won’t” by Lydia Davis Let me guess: you don’t even have enough time to be reading this newsletter, let alone a book review, let alone the book the review is about.

Reconsider this assumption. Can’t and Won’t

by Lydia Davis is a collection of stories that holds literary merit, and can be read in the short bursts of time allotted to a busy business professional and student.

You can read some of these stories in the time it takes to wait in line at the grocery store or bank.

You could even cook dinner and toggle on your tablet between your recipe on your Epicurious App and Can’t and Won’t by Lydia Davis on your Kindle App. You have to let those chops sauté for four to five minutes per side, so why not read while you wait?

Be careful, though, because even though you will finish one story in five minutes, Davis’ writing is so engaging you will want to read the next one immediately. (And you may burn your dinner in the process!) Her stories don’t lull you into a sense of calm fantasy away from your hectic life. In fact, sometimes her writing can be downright prosaic. This is in no way an insult. These stories, dream journal entries and adaptations of Flaubert’s writing are peppered with insights into the dialectic contained within the examined life.

One story details Davis’ struggle with following the Audubon Society’s guidelines for eating ecologically-friendly fish while eating at restaurants. These guidelines are printed on a folding list which details “which fish to avoid, which fish to eat with caution, and which fish to eat freely.” She wants to do what is good for the earth and oceans, but “it is not much fun to have dinner with someone who takes a list like this out of her wallet before she orders.” Therefore, she only orders fish when eating alone.

And she cannot ask the server where and how the different fish on the menu were caught, since “the waitress … usually does not know” and “the waitress and the chef [do] not have time for detailed questions.”

The title of the book comes from one of the stories I can only assume is nonfiction, in which the author was denied a literature award “…because, they said, I was lazy.

What they meant by lazy was that I used too many contractions; for instance, I would not write out in full the words cannot and will not, but instead contracted them to can’t and won’t.”

I highly recommend this collection of stories, aphorisms and other pieces of short writing by Lydia Davis (or any publication by her, for that matter). You will occasionally stifle laughter if you read it in public places. You may also have to force yourself to put the book down as you run over to the stove to turn down the temperature, now that smoke is billowing from your skillet. At least you won’t have to remember what was going on when you come back to the collection, because you can start on a new page with a fresh story when you come back. And you will, because you know that you can always finish reading her next piece in a flash.

Misson Updates from Faculty, Staff, Students and Alumni

In the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, we want to know – “ Is Your Jesuit Showing!?”

Foodbank of the Rockies On Friday, Oct. 24, 2014 several members of the SHSS faculty, staff and friends from other Regis University departments spent the morning volunteering at Foodbank of the Rockies.

We’ve worked there several times before, “but this time was even more special since we were packing Thanksgiving meals,” said Denise Walton.

Would you like to be notified the next time we gather at the Foodbank of the Rockies for a morning of fun and good work? Send an email to cgrebenc@regis.edu to be added to the invite! Students, affiliates, alumni and friends are welcome.

Blessing of the Beasties

In honor of St. Francis of Asissi, on Tuesday, Oct. 7, the fourth annual Blessing of the Beasties was held. Dr. Janet Houser was the Mistress of Ceremony at the event, which included a mini petting zoo, stunt dogs fetching Frisbees, an animal food drive to benefit local shelters, snacks, animal puppet making for the kids and more! Father Dirk Dunfee blessed each and every animal individually at the end of the event. Don’t miss next year’s Blessing of the Beasties!

News From the Honor Societies

Building Your Regis Experience

by Karen Smaldone Cordova

O

With participation in the SHSS Honor Societies, Alpha Sigma Lambda (ΑΣΛ) and Lambda Pi Eta (ΛΠΗ)

ne day you will graduate and have a chance to look back on your Regis experience.

What times will you cherish the most? Will you look back on the papers, the exams, the late night studying or do you hope for something more? What many CPS students don’t realize is they can build a fuller more well-rounded college experience filled with enduring friendships and lifelong memories by joining Honor Societies currently offered by the School for Humanities and Social Sciences.

Working as a Lead and CPS Affiliate Faculty for 15 years, I have a lot of insight into our nontraditional students. I am proud of the curriculum we provide and the philosophy we teach, “How ought we to live?” I have always felt strongly that students in the Regis CPS program are some of most dedicated who somehow manage to juggle fulltime jobs, family and school. In my classes I often ask my students what hobbies they have outside of school the typical answer is, ”I had hobbies, but now my life is filled with work and school.” So it is clear to me that many of our students feel they have little room to build other types of memories when they graduate from Regis.

In contrast, the Regis College traditional students live in the dorm, attend and coordinate school events. They seem to graduate with a multitude of memories of campus living and attending campus events.

But the SHSS is creating opportunities for our students to have the same (if not more) fun filled, engaging experiences! We have demonstrated our success in creating, coordinating and planning events that engage our students and the community we invite. Some of our events include a lecture by Holocaust Survivor Martin Weiss, Annual Speech Competition and the Fine Arts & Crafts Show Fundraiser to name a few. In addition, our members can receive free tickets to events in the community to share with their classmates and their families. Most recently our members have attended the Colorado Rockies Game, Museum of Nature and Science and the Denver Zoo. Our members have even attended musicals, ballet performances and rodeos. We encourage family participation in our events because it serves as a way for our members to spend quality family time while also participating in Honor Society events. One highlight each year is our annual Induction Ceremony where members can invite their family and friends to celebrate their official

Karen Smaldone Cordova

initiation into the Honor Society.

As a longtime Advisor to LPE and now Advisor to ASL, I have enjoyed watching our CPS Honor Society members develop programs, build friendships, and network with organizations and professionals. They not only leave with well rounded memories of school life, but they can build up their resume with additional skills and fill leadership positions to help them when they reenter the workforce. To help our members do this, we provide opportunities for them to apply for Officer positions within the Honor Society. In addition, we also ask the members to write and develop their own position description. This serves two purposes, first they can create the position to fit into their career goals and second, it helps our Honor Society have committed talented people fill these positions. Some titles our members have created and filled include Communications Officer, Chairperson and Event Coordinator. What is more, everyone is included, even our distance members have participated in our meetings. One of our members recently skyped into our meeting from Hawaii, another from Colorado Springs.

So the old adage, “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy” contains some truth and wisdom for those students who focus only on the labor involved in achieving an education.

But it is not too late to build your Regis experience past papers and exams. Get involved with ΛΠΗ or ΑΣΛ Honor Society and build long-lasting enduring friendships, participate in fun-filled

engaging events and take advantage of creating a fuller more enhanced and enduring Regis University experience!

Once In a Lifetime Opportunity, Or Last Opportunity of a Lifetime?

by Christi Grebenc and Ben Closson

A

ttending the Martin Weiss, Holocaust Survivor, discussion on Tuesday, 11/4/14 in the chapel at Regis University was a must for me. Sure, I had learned about the holocaust, read about the holocaust, even seen survivors speak on T.V. I was not going to miss, possibly my last chance, to meet a survivor in person.

Even though I eagerly anticipated hearing Mr. Weiss’ story, I was not prepared. It was heartbreaking to see Mr. Weiss have to stop to wipe tears, or choke down the lump building in his throat. Hearing Mr. Weiss’ voice crack when he spoke about another prisoner saving his life by grabbing him by the back of Holocaust Survivor Martin Weiss the collar, viciously, when Mr. Weiss MARTIN tried to break free to run towards his WEISS mother was too real to fathom.

I tried, to no avail, to imagine the hunger that Mr. Weiss felt upon liberation. After having been starved by the Nazis for years, he had to hold himself back from eating too many dumplings for fear of making himself sick. Being in the same room with Dr. Weiss was an experience I will never forget. I am thankful to the School of Humanities and Social Science’s Honor Societies, Alpha Sigma Lambda (ΑΣΛ) and Lambda Pi Eta (ΛΠΗ) for bringing Mr Weiss to our campus.

THE SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, LAMBDA PI ETA & ALPHA SIGMA LAMBDA HONOR SOCIETIES BRING YOU

A discussion w i th

FREE and OPEN to the Public

6 p.m.

Regis University St. John Francis Regis Chapel North Denver (Lowell) Campus

11:30 a.m.

Colorado Springs Library 21c 1175 Chapel Hills Drive

regis.edu/holocaust

SPECIAL THANK YOU TO: RENAISSANCE DENVER HOTEL, THE ACADEMY HOTEL, REGIS COLLEGE LAMBDA PI ETA, 21ST CENTURY LIBRARY. Sponsored By

REGIS PIZZA 5007 Lowell Blvd. Denver, 80221

Who’s New in SHSS?

Welcome to Lourdes Schmidt, who joined The School of Humanities and Social Sciences on Oct. 1 as the Liberal Arts Department Administrative Assistant.

Greetings everyone, My name is Lourdes Schmidt. I am originally from Lima, Peru.

I studied business in Lima and I worked for Bellsouth Peru for seven years as customer service supervisor. In 2001, I came to United States to further my education. I studied at the University of Colorado Denver and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communication with an emphasis in mediation in 2012. While at school, I was selected for an internship with the Department of the Treasury. There, I worked for the Director of the Financial Education. Some of my responsibilities were to assist the director of financial education in setting up the First President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability meetings. Also, I led internal and external projects, created a data base, I responded to letters of input, and I answered inquiries about the National Strategy and Core Competencies of financial education.

I became part of Regis in June 2013. I currently assist Denis Murray, assistant dean, on state authorization. We are responsible for Lourdes Schmidt authorization for the entire university from the 50 states to teach online classes. I also work with Marie Friedemann, the associate dean. I assist the organization The Jesuit Commons Higher Education at the Margins by supplying academic resources to our students in three refugee camps in Kenya and Malawi. In addition, I make sure that our volunteer faculty has full access to our D2L system and RegisNET to be able to teach online.

I am currently taking graduate classes here at Regis. One of my professional goals is to obtain my Master of Arts in Communication, with an emphasis in Organization.

In my leisure time I love to cook, to bike and to spend time with family and friends. I speak some French and I would love to go back to France someday soon. I am very excited about starting my new position in the School of Humanities.

A NOTE FROM ERICA ALLGOOD After almost 19 years as a faculty member in the Communication Department in CPS, I am leaving to accept a position at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS) as the Director of the Center for Excellence in Communication. I will greatly miss the faculty, staff, administration, and students who have been part of my personal and professional life, and who have helped me to become a better teacher, life-long learner, colleague, and friend. I will never forget the times spent at Regis, and the Mission of the University will continue to live on in me wherever I go. Thank you so much!

School of Humanities and Social Science says goodbye to a dear friend, Erica Allgood.

uck Erica!

L d o o G

Just For Fun A Moooooving Halloween Experiment

W

hat was that? Did you say they make vegan candy corn? The School and Humanities and Social Sciences is home to a few vegetarians and vegans, and as such, the discovery of the availability of vegan candy corn was quite the news item. That’s right: candy corn without the gelatin! But, as typically follows the announcement of most vegan food alternatives, the question quickly became, “Well, what do they taste like?”

In the (Halloween) spirit of a true social science school, faculty and staff decided that a blind taste test was in order. Does vegan candy taste significantly different than traditional candy? We conveniently sampled four subjects, instructed them to close their eyes, and gave them two small plastic cups. We placed one vegan and one traditional candy corn in each. We told the subjects that the cups contained two variations of candy corn, and that we were interested in which candy they preferred and to offer any commentary about the taste. The results?

Drumroll, please! One subject preferred the traditional candy (the other was “too sweet!”), one preferred the vegan candy (the other was “too waxy!”), and one had no preference. One of the original four subjects discovered which candy was vegan and which was traditional before her taste test; her data were eliminated.

In conclusion, this study found that there is no significant difference in taste preference between traditional candy corn and vegan candy corn. Of important note, the study is limited by the small sample size. The School of Humanities and Social Sciences has determined that further research should be conducted with a larger sample to lead to more conclusive results!

This year at Halloween, you may surprise yourself with the not-so-ghastly tastes of the humane alternative. Who-o-o, who-o-o knew? Vegan candy corn!

Have you graduated from SHSS, but still want to receive invitations to WC3, newsletters, and mission opportunities?

Send an email to cgrebenc@regis.edu with your personal email address and don’t miss out!

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