The Pharos Newsletter for
Welcome to another exciting year for the College of Arts and Sciences! The start of a new school year is always an exciting time. Watching students scurry to class and study sessions; faculty implementing course planning and working with students on research projects; staff supporting both students and faculty achieve their goals all bring me joy. Campus, at the start of the school year, is full of possibilities and, for me, is similar to listening to the opening notes of Beethoven's Ninth or first few paragraphs of Tolkein’s The Hobbit– I know we are in for an adventure this year.
Apart from welcoming back students, we welcomed our inaugural Masters in Social Work class to the College. We are planning new programs in Medical Laboratory Science, have already proposed a secondary education minor that will allow for licensure, and supported the implementation of a new first-year experience (VUE) to replace the Core program.
The College is also preparing for Homecoming and for recruiting the 2025-2026 students. Many departments are sponsoring events on October 4th and the College is sponsoring a tailgate event on October 5th. We had over 200 visitors to our tent last year, so please come to campus, connect with old friends and faculty, and most importantly, stop by our tent.
One last request–please consider following our new Instagram page, which will be an easy way for alumni and students to know what is happening within the College. Our Instagram page will give information about upcoming performances, events, classes, visit days, preview days, and celebrations.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Fall. Go apple picking, have cider and donuts, rake leaves, and most importantly, come to Homecoming if you are able!
Have a good one, Bagel
Dean Gregg “Bagel” Johnson
Graduates
After graduating with majors in German and Computer Science, Travis Biancardi moved to Munich, Germany in June 2024 for work as a Junior Software Developer at HoloLight. At Valpo, Travis taught in the Kinder lernen Deutsch German program for children, studied abroad in Tübingen, and was active in the German House, German Club, and Kaffeestunde.
Curriculum Faculty Department of World Language and Cultures
Payton Hodson graduated in 2022 with majors in Psychology and Spanish. She taught in Ecuador through a Fulbright grant and was awarded an Orr Fellowship to work with CREA LLC in Indianapolis, building professional skills and helping us to recruit future Orr Fellows!
Department Need
The department is delighted to announce the launch of LINC -the Language and Intercultural Learning Center (previously, the Language Resource Center). Directed by Carol Goss ‘92, the center has adopted a new, complementary focus on intercultural development, while maintaining a strong commitment to language students. As we expand intercultural learning support for students, staff, and faculty, would you consider making a gift to LINC? Gifts will primarily support student participation in an assessment newly available to campus called the Intercultural Development Inventory. Learn about this assessment and other funding priorities here.
World Languages and Culture is proposing a new version of our Spanish major with an intentional focus on career readiness. Students in this major will combine courses on language and culture with Spanish for specific purposes like business, healthcare, and community engagement. New curricular additions include Hispanic Cultural Studies, two levels of advanced/professional communication, and topics like Spanish for STEM. Students will continue to combine coursework with co-curricular opportunities like living in our immersive Spanish House community, studying abroad in one of five distinctive programs, and practicing leadership through the Spanish Club, LIVE (our Latinx organization), and student-led groups like Spanish for Healthcare.
Timothy Malchow, Professor of German and Director of the Kade-Duesenberg German House and Cultural Center, has written a chapter in German for the forthcoming GünterGrass-Handbuch, to be published by De Gruyter in Berlin. Following the publication of Malchow’s 2021 book, Günter Grass and the Genders of German Memory, this new handbook’s German editors asked him to contribute a chapter on gender in the work of the Nobel laureate Grass. Malchow is also writing a posthumanist critique of Grass’s novel The Rat (Die Rättin) for the forthcoming Centenary Companion to Günter Grass, by invitation of the book's editors in the U.K.
Imagine.
Payton Hodson
Professor Timothy Malchow
Graduates Physics and Astronomy Department of
Rachael (Jensema) Filwett (2013) joined Montana State University as an Assistant Professor of physics two years ago, specializing in space weather and solar physics. Last fall, she was awarded the very
prestigious NSF CAREER Grant which funds promising researchers early in their careers. She and her students will be studying the interaction of solar winds and the solar magnetic fields, along with creating new course work and outreach programs aimed at teaching the general public more about solar physics.
Department Need
A central part of our mission is to provide our students with opportunities to participate in research and to go to conferences, which are key experiences for future graduate students, teachers, and industry scientists. We typically hire 8 – 12 students each summer to work with us (this year we hired 14!). Students’ stipends are supported by grant funding, but that does not cover all the students who want positions. Donor funds would greatly help provide a consistent source of research funding for stipends, research and conference travel, equipment, and faculty support. Equally importantly: spread the word to people thinking about where to go to university—tell them about our amazing program in physics and astronomy so more can join in the fun!
Curriculum
Given the strength of our astronomy program and the strong public interest in space, we are planning on providing students with more pathways to engage with astronomy and space science at Valpo. One change will be to rename the Astronomy major to “Astronomy and Space Science,” with several concentrations that target particular career goal. A new Space Science concentration will include relevant courses in Engineering and Geography, preparing students to enter graduate programs in space science and then into space industries. We also plan on offering a concentration in both physics and astronomy for training for a career in Public Science, which will include courses in Communications and Visual Arts (CVA) and English, along with opportunities to engage with the public regularly.
Faculty
Professors He, Hillwig, and Zygmunt obtained an Indiana Space Grant Consortium grant to support research positions for 6 students this summer. The group is trying to figure out the source of unexplained features in
the infrared spectrum of planetary nebula. These likely come from organic compounds, but which ones is unknown. The group is building candidate molecules in computers using quantum mechanical principles and then simulating their spectra, looking for matches with experiment. It’s a great application of fundamental physics to an outstanding astrophysical problem.
Create.
Rachel (Jensema) Filwett
Professors Zygmunt, Hillwig, and He with students receiving funding for summer research.
Department ofSocial Work
Graduates
Recent alumna Sam Burgett ’20, Porter County’s first Police Social Worker, was instrumental in hosting a significant Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) last month. CIT is an internationally recognized best practice model for improving police response to mental health crises and diverting individuals from the justice system. This is the first time the training has been offered in Porter County since 2009. As part of the training, 24 first responders, social workers, and clinicians became CIT-certified and better equipped to respond to mental health crises and substance use issues. Sam is at the forefront of making a safer, stronger community.
Department Need
Currently, the Social Work program is collecting professional clothing for its new professional clothing closet in Wesemann Hall. The closet was designed to help students defray the cost of clothing for internships and interviews. The closet will launch regular open hours later this fall, and clothing will be free to students. The program currently seeks donations of clean men’s professional clothing and professional shoes or accessories in all sizes, though all professional clothing donations are welcome. If you have clothes to donate, please email both Nicole.moy@valpo.edu and SocialWorkStudentAid@valpo.edu. Thank you!
Curriculum
Social Work now offers a new class that gives students a firsthand window into advocacy. SOCW-290-LEAD, a 7week Spring I class, is open to any major. Students visit the statehouse and learn
lobbying through immersion. Students meet with legislators, shadow senior majors lobbying on bills, and learn how to pull legislators off the floor. This trip gives students a taste of Social Work’s policy practice minor.
Social Work also launched its new MSW program this fall. The program is accepting non-BSW graduates for its parttime online and traditional 2-year programs to start June 2025. For more info, visit here.
Faculty
This year, Social Work Prof. Caroline Ban received the 2024 VUAA Distinguished Teaching Award. Interestingly, this does not mean that Caroline has stopped learning. Caroline is currently taking a class on the pedagogy of teaching for her doctoral program. Caroline says, “I am a constructionist; I think deeply about what my students bring into the classroom and how we can co-create knowledge together.” Caroline loves teaching about policy. She leads two trips to the Statehouse. This fall, students will testify in front of an Education Committee about absenteeism, and she will lead a lobbying trip this Spring. Courses are open to any major through the Social Work Policy Practice minor.
Solve.
Sam Burgett
Social Work students visit the Statehouse.
& Criminology
Kayla Smith is a recent Valparaiso University graduate, that is now working as a Criminal Intelligence Analyst with the Drug Task Force at the Lake County Sheriff’s Department in Indiana. In this role, she leads investigative projects and ensure thorough, effective analysis by analyzing and interpreting data. Her responsibilities include using modern technology to gather information, providing support for the Department of Investigations, and assisting outside agencies. Kayla says "that her studies at Valparaiso University, including insights from Professor Bartusch, have significantly shaped my academic and professional outlook to enhance community safety and contribute meaningfully to the initiatives of the Lake County Sheriff’s Department.”
Curriculum Faculty Department of Sociology
Graduates Department Need
Twice – in 2019 and 2024 – Professor Dawn Jeglum Bartusch has led students to Norway during spring break to study Norway’s criminal justice system, which takes a much more rehabilitative approach than in the U.S. Students say that this course helps them think about prospects for reforming the U.S. system in entirely new ways. Many students wish to participate in the course, but studying in Norway, even for a short time, is expensive, and scholarships for short-term study abroad are limited. A significant need is funding for scholarships – to make this type of cross-cultural learning opportunity available to more students.
Assistant Professor Margarita Rayzberg
What are the politics of using DNA technology in our criminal justice system? How did the invention of liedetectors change our understanding of evidence? Why do we trust expert witnesses in court trials? This spring, the department will launch “Science and Crime,” a new course about advancements in science and
technology and their impact on ourcriminal justice and legal practices. Students will think critically about the possibilities and pitfalls of new scientific and technological approaches in criminal investigation and legal proceedings, visit forensic laboratories, and hear from experts in the field. Professor Margarita Rayzberg, a sociologist and science and technology studies scholar whose research focuses on the politics of evidence, will teach the class.
For the past year, Professor Dawn Jeglum Bartusch has been working with Sociology/Criminology major Dani Schulz on research focused on the use of solitary confinement in the U.S., and its negative effects on individuals and communities. The research report Dani has written, in collaboration with Professor Jeglum Bartusch, will be presented to Public Advocates in Community Re-Entry (PACE), a non-profit organization in Indianapolis that provides resources for successful re-entry following incarceration. PACE will use the report to support its efforts to draw attention to the consequences of long-term solitary confinement for individuals, and to the ways solitary confinement ultimately undermines public safety.Twice – in 2019 and 2024 – Prof. Dawn Jeglum Bartusch has led students to Norway during spring break to study Norway’s criminal justice system, which takes a much more rehabilitative approach than in the U.S. Students say that this course helps them think about prospects for reforming the U.S. system in entirely new ways. Many students wish to participate in the course, but studying in Norway, even for a short time, is expensive, and scholarships for short-term study abroad are limited. A significant need is funding for scholarships – to make this type of cross-cultural learning opportunity available to more students.
Professor Dawn Jeglum Bartusch