ALUMNI NEWSLETTER www.gse.buffalo.edu
TRANSFORMING LIVES THROUGH EDUCATION
SPRING/SUMMER 2008
3 Faculty Focus June Abbas is researching how we access information on the World Wide Web and the Internet.
5 Emeritus Faculty Spotlight George Bobinski reminisces about his career in library and information studies.
6 New Directions in Educational Research An update on faculty research that is impacting the Western New York community and beyond.
10 Retirement Tributes Thomas Frantz, Michael Kibby, and Elaine Bartkowiak are honored for their outstanding careers.
14 Remembering James Conway Former and current faculty members share fond memories of their beloved colleague.
16 Upward Bound This program has been providing support services to disadvantaged college-bound students for 40 years.
20 Student Research Symposium Celebrating its 15th year, the symposium featured a keynote address by UB alumnus Arthur Levine.
New Directions in Education: Language, Literacy, and Culture As a capstone event celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Graduate School of Education, the school brought four prominent scholars to campus for the lecture series “New Directions in Education: Language, Literacy, and Culture.” The series began on February 22, 2008, with a presentation by Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Entitled “Multiliteracies: Ten Years Later,” the lecture updated the issues of language diversity, globalization, and the many new versions of literacy beyond print that were addressed in their book Multiliteracies: Literacy Learning and the Design of Social Futures. BILL COPE On February 28, John Baugh from Washington University in St. Louis examined “The Evolution of Linguistic Diversity in American Schools and Society.” In this lecture, Baugh presented the social and geographic diversity of linguistic usage in the MARY KALANTZIS United States, including discussions on controversial topics such as Ebonics, affirmative action, and bilingual education. “New Directions in Education” concluded
with two sessions on March 31 by P. David Pearson from the University of California, Berkeley. In the morning lecture, Pearson presented “An Historical Analysis of the Impact of Educational Research on Policy JOHN BAUGH and Practice: Reading as an Illustrative Case.” This discussion examined the changing views of the nature of reading processes and pedagogies. In the afternoon session, “Teaching Comprehension in an Age of Accountability: Keeping the Science and the Art in Balance,” DAVID PEARSON Pearson offered teachers and other school professionals perspectives on maintaining a balance between research and practice. Dean Mary Gresham noted the widereaching impact of this series. “The response to these scholarly lectures from community educators, as well as GSE faculty, students, and alumni, was tremendous. I’m so pleased we had the opportunity to provide a forum to address these timely and important educational issues. Our ability to attract these highly regarded speakers is a tribute to the standard of excellence we adhere to in GSE.”