College of Letters & Science
IN FOCUS
December 2020, Vol. 10, No.12
Economics Grad Examines Wage Gap Between Natives and Immigrants
For updates on UWM’s pandemic response, visit https://uwm.edu/coronavirus
Read all about it: Jou covers Milwaukee du
Contents Feature Stories Journalism grad covers Milwaukee during COVID
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UWM receives grant To increase diversity in science
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Social media and the concession speech
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Math student researches NBA home-court advantage
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Dunn awarded AAAS fellowship
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Econ grad examines a wage gap
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Columns
It’s no newsroom, but Tony Atkins’ living room has been serving as a fine replacement for the bright lights of the TMJ4 television studio. Like all news reporters, Atkins, a news correspondent for channel TMJ4, has had to adapt to the changing landscape of Milwaukee during the COVID-19 pandemic. That means wearing masks while he’s out on assignments, working from home when he’s putting together news packages, and, yes, shooting segments from his living room.
People in Print
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This new way of doing news is a challenge, but it’s one Atkins has embraced. He loves covering his hometown.
Laurels and Accolades
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From Milwaukee and back again
Alumni Accomplishments
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Upcoming Events
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Atkins was born and raised on Milwaukee’s northwest side. He attended UWM and chose journalism as his major. “I had so many interests – marine biology, sociology, politics, sports,” he recalled. “I wanted a career path that would allow me to do a little bit of everything. Journalism drew me in.” And, he added, UWM made it easy. Atkins remembers walking into the offices of the UWM Post, the campus newspaper, and asking for a job. The editors let him take his pick – Atkins chose to cover sports – and he became the paper’s sports editor shortly thereafter.
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“I didn’t know anything about it, but it allowed me to gain life skills,” Atkins said. “Outside of the classes, the resources that the university had are the starting point of some of my best memories there.” Those experiences also gave him the skills he needed to land a job right after he graduated in 2013. Atkins accepted a fellowship with the Cox Media Group working on an app for a Texas newspaper called the Austin American Statesman. Atkins worked on marketing, sales, and development, but something was missing. So, “I started writing for the paper in their features section, and I also picked up a camera and tailed their video team and shot my own videos to learn that trade, which got me to my next job in Pittsburgh,” Atkins said. In Pennsylvania, he wrote, shot, and edited his own stories for the digital platforms of WXPI, Pittsburgh’s NBCaffiliate channel. From there, he accepted an on-air role at Fox 13 in Memphis, Tennessee. “But after five years on the road, I wanted to come home,” he said. “And then I got the job at TMJ4 (in 2019), so it all worked.”
urnalism grad uring COVID Adapting to a pandemic In a normal year, Atkins’ day starts with an editorial meeting where he and his colleagues share the stories they’re working on and pitch new ideas. They receive their assignments, and then it’s off to the newsroom and then the field to put together their stories. If there’s time, Atkins returns to the station to piece together his footage and interviews, and then the day is done. But 2020 is not a normal year. “We’re all on Zoom in the editorial meeting. You can see everybody except for me because I hide behind my picture,” Atkins joked. “You get on Zoom and then you make your calls. You never go to the station; we stay out of the newsroom at all times now, which I kind of like because it gives you more time to connect with the community and more time to get a feel for what’s going on in the city.” He often conducts his interviews over the phone or on Zoom, but in some cases, you need boots on the ground. Over the summer, for instance, Atkins grabbed his mask and helped cover the nightly protests that rocked the city in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. But the pandemic isn’t the only thing driving change in the world of journalism. Looking to the future The face of journalism is changing. Digital content has usurped print newspapers and regular television news has to compete for viewers with streaming services and social media. Atkins thinks it’s a perfect time for newsrooms to adapt. “I think this is a wake-up call not to rest on our laurels and expect the legacy of our brand to carry us. I think that people are starting to resonate with new forms of media, like videos on Facebook,” he said. But, he added, the fundamentals of news remain the same. People still need to know what’s happening in their city, and that informs his advice for budding journalists. “I think the one thing that will allow you to survive and succeed will be a mindset of helping people. This isn’t about you; it’s about informing the public,” he said. “You have to take that mindset right out of the gate. When you graduate and flip your tassel, the first thing you should think of is, ‘How can I help people?’” By Sarah Vickery, College of Letters & Science
Tony Atkins, JAMS ‘13
Making an impact UWM journalism graduate Tony Atkins views journalism as a public service. His goal is to help people through his career. That’s partly why he’s most proud of a story he covered while working at WHBQ Fox 13 in Memphis. Atkins reported on a homicide and spoke with the victim’s family. “They told me that the person who allegedly shot their loved one was on Facebook Live every night at a hotel, and they knew where it was and they tried telling police. They felt like nothing was getting done,” Atkins said. He ran another report on the story, calling attention to the Facebook Live videos and the police’s inaction. Shortly thereafter, the suspect was arrested. Atkins doesn’t know if his reporting helped accelerate the process, but, he said, “I think I’m just really proud to help that family find justice.” College of Letters & Science • UW–Milwaukee • 3
UWM Receives $980,000 To Increase Diversity in Sciences The Greater Milwaukee Foundation has given the UWM Foundation a $980,000 grant to increase diversity among faculty members and graduate students. The grant benefits the College of Letters & Science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
“We are incredibly grateful for this gift, which will benefit firstgeneration college students and students from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in graduate biological sciences programs,” said Scott Gronert, dean of the College of Letters & Science.
The five-year award, given through the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s James D. Shaw and Dorothy Shaw Fund, is named in honor of the late Dorothy Shaw, who left a bequest supporting research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the fields of biochemistry, biological science and cancer research after losing two sisters to cancer.
The stipends will be available to students in all the biological and related sciences in the College of Letters & Science, but preference will be given to those studying neuroscience.
“This gift exemplifies the long-standing partnership between UWM and the Greater Milwaukee Foundation,” UWM Chancellor Mark Mone said. “We share a vision for engaging in activities that have broad community benefit. I am deeply grateful for their steadfast support of scholarships, research and teaching at UWM. Like previous awards from the fund, this grant will allow us to attract and retain promising faculty and graduate students who strengthen our research efforts, create new knowledge and solve societal issues.” About half of this latest award — $500,000 — will be used to recruit and provide research funding for an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences whose research focuses on neuroscience. UWM will be searching for someone early in their career with both an established research record and the potential to grow their research portfolio. The remaining funds — $480,000 — will provide research stipends for doctoral students, who must complete research projects to earn their degrees. The $8,000-$10,000 yearly, renewable stipends will supplement UWM’s existing support for doctoral students and are expected to help four or five students per year.
Feeling a little (or a lot) stressed? You’re not alone – we all are. You@UWM is available to help students be proactive with your health, well-being and academic success. There are tools for self-help and info on UWM services available to you. https://uwm.edu/norris/youatuwm/ 4 • IN FOCUS • December, 2020
“Expanding opportunities matters, and this funding will help UWM recruit and support more graduate students of color, contributing to greater equity in the fields of health and science,” said Ellen Gilligan, Greater Milwaukee Foundation president and CEO. “What’s more, accelerating the research of promising junior faculty is attuned to Dorothy Shaw’s legacy as a champion for advancing biomedical research and launching careers for the next generation of brilliant minds. The Foundation is honored to continue our stewardship of Mrs. Shaw’s tremendous generosity.” The recruitment of the new faculty member and the support for graduate students aligns with UWM’s plan for a new bachelor’s degree in neuroscience to start in Fall 2021. The program will focus on the nervous system and the resulting physical and behavioral thoughts and actions that impact living organisms. This area of study is inherently interdisciplinary, drawing on courses in biology, chemistry, biophysics and psychology to understand how the brain works and to address causes and therapeutics for malfunctions of the nervous system. The new program will create more courses in neuroscience, provide research opportunities for undergraduates in the field and enhance existing neuroscience research in the psychology and biological sciences departments.
Social media is changing the nature of the political concession speech While elections may determine winners and losers, the concession speech typically brings a symbolic end to a political campaign. There are no legal or constitutional requirements for losing candidates to concede. Rather, concession speeches grew into rituals on election night in the early 1950s as televisions became more ubiquitous in American homes. “The performance of the concession ritual is about conferring legitimacy on the democratic process and healing the ruptures that arise as a normal outcome of the political process,” said Michael Mirer, a visiting assistant professor of journalism. Social media may be changing those ceremonial conventions. Mirer’s research interests include social media and political communication. He found in a 2013 study published in the journal New Media & Society that norms and themes traditionally associated with concession speeches, like having the losing candidate speak before the winner and call for unity, have eroded as platforms like Twitter took on a larger role in politics. “These findings have implications for the practice of politics online, and especially in the social media environment,” the authors said in the study, which was based on an analysis of 200 Twitter feeds of congressional, senatorial and gubernatorial candidates during the 2010 midterm election. A more fragile system A decade later, social media holds even more sway as a political communications tool and American politics is as
polarized and contentious as ever. “One of the things that has changed since the paper was written is that the political system seems a lot more fragile,” Mirer said. “All norms are voluntary, and that includes concession.” In 1952, Adlai Stevenson gave the first nationally television concession speech in American history after losing to Dwight D. Eisenhower. In recent presidential elections, losing candidates Mitt Romney in 2012 and Hillary Clinton in 2016 followed the traditional script in delivering their concessions. Norms changing In his study, Mirer found that a concession delivered on social media was less likely to include norms like congratulating opponents and pledging to work together. Expressing those sentiments allows a losing candidate to at least symbolically create an opportunity to move forward. Instead, a concession on social media was more likely to thank supporters and pledge to continue to advocate for their issues. “From a presumed audience perspective, this is explained by the social media audience being more partisan,” Mirer said. “If Twitter behavior becomes the standard for the behavior of politicians in real life,” he added, “we end up with a coarser politics less equipped to take on big problems.” By Genaro C. Armas, University Relations and Communications
Twitter and other social media have disrupted the political norm of the concession speech, says Michael Mirer, visiting assistant professor of journalism at UWM. (UWM Photo/Pete Amland)
College of Letters & Science • UW–Milwaukee • 5
Mathematics student gives new insight on NBA home-court advantage If you’re a team in the National Basketball Association, there’s no place like home. Historically, home teams have won about 60 percent of their games. Although the significance of NBA homecourt advantage has fluctuated from season to season and has gradually declined through the years, recent seasons have still seen home teams winning nearly six out of every 10 games. But what determines a team’s home advantage, and why does it change with time? It’s a question that’s been the subject of many studies, including a new one by UWM mathematic and atmospheric science doctoral student Austin Harris, a longtime NBA fan who applied data science to find the answer. Harris collected season performance statistics for all NBA teams across more than 30 seasons, starting with 1983-84 and ending with the 2017-18 campaign. He also obtained data for potential influences from previous studies, including variables like stadium attendance and team market size. Harris then examined that information using a data science method called an artificial neural network (ANN). “Neural networks operate in a way that is similar to the human brain, with certain data turned ‘on’ or ‘off,’ like a neuron firing,” says Harris, who works under Paul Roebber, distinguished professor of mathematical sciences. The key difference between an ANN and similar regression techniques is that an ANN can pick up on the nuanced, nonlinear connections in the dataset. ANNs are most beneficial when relationships in the data are complex, such as the factors that go into NBA teams winning more often at home. Harris began diagnosing a team’s home-court advantage using team performance statistics only. Then, after he applied data from possible influences, the ANN identified the only thing associated with larger advantages: Teams playing at home made more free throws and can gain an edge by making more 2-point shots. 6 • IN FOCUS • December, 2020
Austin Harris (left) and Paul Roebber stand courtside before a Milwaukee Bucks game at Fiserv Forum in 2019. Harris researched the factors that contribute to an NBA team's homecourt advantage. (UWM Photo/Troye Fox)
Those findings seem to run against the grain of the league’s recent trend, which has seen successful teams win by attempting and making more 3-pointers. But Harris says the increased emphasis on 3-point shooting partly explains the gradual decline in NBA home-court advantage over time. Harris suspects the research results may lend credence to a long-held belief that referees are unconsciously biased toward calling a game slightly in favor of the home team. Fouls are more likely to be called on 2-point shots and dunk attempts, which would also lead to more free-throw attempts. But Harris also notes that the research neither tested for that notion nor found any specific evidence to support it. There’s one other factor that Harris didn’t test for but that he’s pretty confident in. “It helps,” he says, “to have a player like Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo on your team.” By Laura Otto, University Relations and Communications
Dunn named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Peter Dunn, a UWM distinguished professor of biological sciences, has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an honor given to AAAS members by their peers. Dunn was elected for his contributions to evolutionary ecology of birds, particularly in sexual selection, mate choice and climate change impacts. He is one of 118 new AAAS fellows named in the biology section and is currently one of only two UWM faculty members with the title. The other is Pradeep Rohatgi, UWM distinguished professor of materials engineering. AAAS is the world’s largest multidisciplinary scientific society and publisher of the global journal Science, which has the largest paid circulation of any peerreviewed, general science journal. Dunn joined the UWM faculty in 1999. His research focuses on the evolutionary impacts of bird mating systems and the population genetics of threatened species. Among his findings: More “showy” physical traits
in males attract females because they are indicators of stronger immunity genes, which help offspring survive. Dunn’s work is important in understanding the genetics of disease resistance. “We’re not that far away from basic animal research to things important to humans,” he said. Dunn earned his bachelor’s at the University of Maine, his master’s degree at Colorado State University and his PhD from the University of Alberta. This year’s fellows will be formally announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on Nov. 27. AAAS members can be considered for the rank of fellow if nominated by the steering group of their respective sections, by three fellows, or by the association’s chief executive officer. Nominations are then voted on by the governing body, the AAAS Council. By Laura Otto, University Relations and Communications
College of Letters & Science • UW–Milwaukee • 7
A foreign concept: Economics grad examines wage gap between natives and immigrants Even if they are employed in the same profession, there is generally a big difference in the salaries between domestic and immigrant employees, and that holds true in countries across the world. And, added Eduard Storm, those wage disparities grow more severe among low- and high-wage earners. “I was wondering, what can explain those two effects?” he said. To find out, he made it the topic of his PhD thesis. Storm himself is a self-described foreign worker. A German native, he participated in an exchange program at UWM during his undergraduate days and returned to the university to earn his PhD in economics. After graduating this summer, he accepted a position at Carleton College in Minnesota as a visiting assistant professor of economics. That subject has long been a fascination of his, and Storm’s interest only grew when the Great Recession in the United States plunged the global economy into chaos. Lately, his interest has turned toward the wage gap between native workers and foreign workers who have immigrated to their new country or work there on visas. His research does not look at illegal immigration. Why the wage gap? To find the reasons for a major gap between the salaries, Storm first had to determine what the reasons were not. He did so by examining German survey data. These German survey results were also consistent with U.S. evidence regarding specialization in the workplace. “Conventional wisdom would tell us there are wage differences because some people have a college degree 8 • IN FOCUS • December, 2020
and others don’t. Some people have 20 years of work experience and others have five,” Storm mused. “However, that’s not a satisfactory answer.” He points out that increasingly, immigrant workers have the same qualifications, education, and experience as native workers. Perhaps the gap is because native and foreign workers specialize in different occupations. Native workers might have an advantage in certain jobs because they have stronger communication skills in the local language than immigrant workers. But that’s not the whole story either, Storm said. “Increasingly, foreign and native workers can also be found in the same professions,” he explained. “I figured there’s got to be something else going on. My hypothesis was that … maybe (workers) don’t just tend to specialize within certain occupations, but even within those occupations, they do different things.” For instance, a native office worker might interact more with clients or be directed to do more sales, while a foreign office worker might be asked to fulfill a role that requires less direct communication. A native worker in higher education might be asked to teach classes while a foreign higher education worker might be in a more research-focused role. “I looked at survey data and what I did find was yes, that native and foreign workers might have similar education, similar experience, and have the same occupation, but nevertheless, do different things at work.” A failure to communicate While it is tempting to atrribute those disparities in job roles – and subsequent wage gaps – on prejudice against foreign workers, Storm says he can’t draw any
conclusions about workplace discrimination. Instead, he said, he focuses on the bottom line: Employers need their employees to be productive. “Of key interest here are tasks that require communication-heavy activities where you have to talk a lot. Here is where language barriers come to play and put foreign workers, to some extent, at a disadvantage,” Storm said. Essentially, native workers are, in many cases, better communicators than foreign workers simply because they grew up speaking the local language. As many large economies across the world shift from manufacturing to service-focus industries, communication has become increasingly important. Native workers are more likely to be in communication or customer-facing roles for this reason. Encouraging immigration Storm’s research could mean trouble for the future labor market. As population growth tapers in many developed countries, there aren’t enough babies being born to someday replace the aging work force. The solution is to either encourage families to have more children, or to attract more labor through immigration. “If you want to attract skilled labor from other countries down the road, they will pick and choose the places where they can make the most money,” Storm said. “The U.S., Canada, the UK, Germany, all of those countries are competing for talent from the entire world. So (they) have to think about some policies to make it more competitive for skilled labor to go (there).” Germany has begun addressing this problem, recently passing two laws aimed at decreasing occupational segregation between native and foreign workers.
UWM economics alum Eduard Storm
But native workers shouldn’t worry about their jobs being in danger, Storm added. “We don’t really see it in the data. It’s not straightforward to replace a native worker with a foreign worker, because they do bring different skills to the table even though they have the same qualifications,” he said. “Immigration could, to some extent, exacerbate certain trends, but I think the key takeaway is how we should think about immigration policies moving forward.” By Sarah Vickery, College of Letters & Science College of Letters & Science • UW–Milwaukee • 9
People in Print Michael Miner (PhD ’20, Sociology). (2020). Unmet Promises: Diminishing Confidence in Education Among College Educated Adults from 1973-2018. Social Science Quarterly. 101(6): 2312-2331. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/ abs/10.1111/ssqu.12873
Neria De Giovanni. (2020). Translation of Around the Dinner Table with Grazia: Food and Cooking in the Work of Grazia Deledda (Simonetta Milli Konewko (Italian), trans.). UWM Digital Commons. https://dc.uwm.edu/freita_facbooks/3/ Mark Netzloff (English). (2020). Agents Beyond the State: The Writings of English Travelers, Soldiers, and Diplomats in Early Modern Europe. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/agents-beyond-thestate-9780198857952?cc=us&lang=en&
Chesley, N.A., Meier, H., Luo, J., Apchemengich, I., & Davies, W.H. (Psychology). (2020). Social context shaping adoption of pointof-use water filtration systems: An observational study of an MTurk sample. Journal of Water and Health, 18, 505-521. https://doi. org/10.2166/wh.2020.053
Carreon, S., Durkin, L., Davies, W.H. (Psychology), & Greenley, R.N. (2020). The influence of provider communication on emerging adults’ medication cognitions and satisfaction with care. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 45, 573-582. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsaa022 Igler, E.C., Sejkora, E.K.D., Austin, J.E. & Davies, W.H. (Psychology). (2020). Friendship changes following a friend’s school absence after serious illness or injury. Journal of Child Health Care, 24, 233-245. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367493519853437 Taxier, L.R., Gross, K.S., & Frick, K.M. (Psychology). (2020). Oestradiol as a neuromodulator of learning and memory. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 21(10), 535-550. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-020-0362-7 Schwabe, M.R., Taxier, L.R., & Frick, K.M. (Psychology). (2020). It takes a neural village: Circuit-based approaches for estrogenic regulation of episodic memory. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 59, 100860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yfrne.2020.100860
Fitzgerald, J.M., Belleau, E.L., Taubitz, L.E., Trevino, C., Brasel, K.J., Larson, C.L. (Psychology), & deRoon-Cassini, T. (2020). DACC resting state functional connectivity as a predictor of pain symptoms following motor vehicle crash: A preliminary investigation. Journal of Pain. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2020.07.002 Kimberly Blaeser (English and American Indian Studies). (2020). Résister en dansant/ Ikwe-niimi: Dancing Resistance (Béatrice Machet, trans.). Nyons, France: Éditions des Lisières. Kevin Garstki (PhD ’17, Anthropology). (2020). Digital Innovations in European Archaeology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Jeffrey Sommers (African and African Diaspora Studies and Global Studies). (2020). Ruin or Renewal? Either Road Runs through our Public Universities. Academe Blog. https://
academeblog.org/2020/10/28/ruin-or-renewal-either-roadruns-through-our-public-universities/
Jihyun Kim (‘12 PhD Communication). (2020). My Teacher Is a Machine: Understanding Students’ Perceptions of AI Teaching Assistants in Online Education. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 36(20): 1902-1911.
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Laurels and Accolades Film Studies Professor Tami Williams organized the 2020 Domitor, International Society for the Study of Early Cinema Conference. Originally scheduled to be held in Paris, it was moved to a digital format and ran from November 17th through the 20th. Sheila Feay-Shaw (Music) and Margaret Noodin (English and American Indian Studies) received a Folk & Traditional Arts grant from the National Endowment for the Arts entitled, “To Support Passing on the Heritage of Traditional Singing: Minomaazoyang jiMinobimaadiziyang.” They will be working with students and citizens of local indigenous nations to explore Margaret Noodin connections between music, health, and philosophy in Anishinaabe culture.
Alumni Accomplishments Jennifer Tuscher (PhD ’17, Psychology) has received a Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Young Investigator Award, a prestigious grant that pays $35,000 a year for two years. She’s currently a postdoctoral fellow in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Neurobiology. Vincent Pope (BA ’85, Political Science) has been appointed Engineering Manager of Diversified Plastics, Inc. Sheryl Hopkins (Master of Human Resources and Labor Relations, ‘94) was named Vice President of Human Resources at Badger Meter, Inc.
Carolyn Eichner (History and Women’s and Gender Studies) has been elected to a second five-year term on the Board of the International Federation for Research in Women’s & Gender History/Fédération Internationale pour la Recherche en Histoire des Femmes et Genre.
People in Print continued Glad, D., Casnar, C., Yund, B., Enderle, M., Siegel, D., Basel, D., & Klein-Tasman, B. P. (Psychology). (2020). Adaptive behavior and relations with executive functioning in children with neurofibromatosis type 1 using a mixed design. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 41(8): 637-643. https://doi.org/10.1097/ DBP.0000000000000833
Derek B. Counts (Art History), Erin Walcek Averett, Kevin Garstki (PhD ’17, Anthropology), and Michael Toumazou. (2020). Visualizing Votive Practice: Exploring Limestone and Terracotta Sculpture from Athienou-Malloura through 3D Models. The Digital Press of the University of North Dakota. https://thedigitalpress.org/vvp/ Brei, N. G., Raicu, A. M., Lee, H. J., & Klein-Tasman, B. P. (Psychology). (2020). Feasibility and acceptability of an online response inhibition cognitive training program for youth with Williams syndrome. International Review of Research in Developmental Disabilities. In S. Hepburn (Ed.), International Review of Research in Developmental Disabilities (Vol. 59, pp. 107–134). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.irrdd.2020.09.002
College of Letters & Science • UW–Milwaukee • 11
Upcoming Events December 1 Women’s and Gender Studies Brown Bag: Collective Rhetoric and Authority – An Analysis of Womxn’s Spontaneous, Collective Action on Twitter 12:00 pm (ONLINE) Presented by Lisa Roth, doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication at UWM.This event occurs over Microsoft Teams.
December 3 Art Under Communism: Unofficial Artists 7:00 pm Christine Evans (History) will discuss the ways that official artists like Luba Lukova, creator of “Luba Lukova: Designing Justice” navigated around censorship in the former Soviet Union and elsewhere in the Eastern bloc. Learn more about what Lukova’s art and career can tell us about the history of socialist visual propaganda and unofficial art under communism. Register at https://jewishmuseummilwaukee.org/events/artunder-communism/
December 4 Geography Colloquium: Graduate Student Research Presentations 3:00 pm (ONLINE) This virtual presentation will take place on Microsoft Teams. Contact xuz@uwm.edu for the link to join the Teams meeting.
December 9 Le Seigneur de la danse/The Lord of the Dance 10:30 am (ONLINE) written and illustrated by Véronique Tadjo, read in French and English, in partnership with the UWM French program and Alliance Française de Milwaukee. https://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/calendar/ home-story-time
December 4 + 11 Planetarium Event: Under African Skies 7:00 pm (ONLINE) Experience stars, stories, and cultural perspectives across the expansive African continent. Each Friday features a different guest speaker and country. Cosponsored by Sociocultural Programming, African and African Diaspora Studies, and the Black Student Cultural Center. https://uwm.universitytickets.com/w/default. aspx?cid=195
December 18 Planetarium Show: Northern Lights 7:00 pm (ONLINE) Enjoy the radiance of the night sky and colorful displays of dancing lights as Planetarium Director Jean Creighton gives a behind-the-scenes tour of the science behind one of nature’s most remarkable light shows. Register at https://uwm.universitytickets.com/w/event. aspx?id=1551
12 • IN FOCUS • December, 2020
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In the Media/Around the Community Gladys Mitchell-Walthour (African and African Diaspora Studies) penned an article for theconversation.com about the wave of Afro-Brazilian women running for political office, their campaign, and their outcomes both at the ballot box and in society atlarge. With the country soon to welcome Doug Emhoff as the first “second gentleman,” Kathleen Dolan (Political Science) spoke with NPR about gender as it relates to the role of the spouses of political leaders. What the Chickadee Knows, a new bilingual book of poems in both Anishinaabemowin and English by Margaret Noodin (English and American Indian Studies) was featured in the Sunday New York Times on November 8. In honor of Native American Heritage Month, TMJ4 news featured Michael Wilson (English and American Indian Studies) and his course which highlights both the atrocities and resiliency of American Indians, an approach that has deeply touched students. George Washington University’s Regulatory Studies Center invited James Peoples (Economics) as one of ten panelists for their virtual commemoration of the 40th anniversary of surface freight deregulation. Professor Peoples expertise on labor markets was called upon during the discussion about the impact of regulation on the transportation industry, shippers, consumers, and workers.
Video Stories: Powering The Future: Physics professors Carol Hirschmugl and Marija Gajdardziska appeared on the CBS 58 Sunday morning show to talk about their award-winning research to create a new material that improves the storage capacity and lifespan of lithium-ion batteries. Their start-up company, SafeLi LLC, recently received a Department of Energy Grant to partner with Argonne National Lab to bring their product to the marketplace.
Hidden UWM Gem: Downer Woods Phenology is the study of the cycles and variations in plant and animal life as they relate to the climate. Distinguished Professor of Geography Mark Schwartz is one of the leading experts in the discipline and outlines the research being conducted in Downer Woods on the UWM main campus. https://youtu.be/Rv0A9yIK1_U
College of Letters & Science • UW–Milwaukee • 13
