Category: CCM – News

Richard Canevez Awarded 2024 REF Seed Grant

Richard Canevez and Kette Thomas, Humanities, participate in a panel at the 2023 41 North Film Festival.
Richard Canevez, assistant professor of communication, culture, and media, has been awarded a 2024 REF Seed Grant.

Richard Canevez, assistant professor of communication, culture, and media in humanities, has been awarded a 2023 seed grant from the Vice President for Research Office Research Excellence Fund.

In its evaluation of the proposal the committee wrote: “The project will use narrative inquiry to gather and analyze information on the experiences of Ukrainian refugees, and thus is both timely and supportive of strategic goals of Michigan Tech related to global issues and those of the Humanities department.”

From the VPR web page, “REF-RS grants are designed to provide research faculty (including research scientists, engineers, and research assistant professors) and untenured, tenure-track academic faculty who have been in their current position with Michigan Tech for less than six years with additional resources to develop an externally supported research program.”

Canevez joined the humanities roster in spring 2023. His research focuses on social informatics, peace and conflict, social justice, and social movements and resistance, with a current focus on the war in Ukraine. He also teaches in communication, culture, and media, and will be teaching a course specifically in Power, Activism, & Technology next fall.

Congratulations, Dr. Canevez!

Congratulations to Humanities 2024 Graduates!

Humanities undergraduates posed with department head Scott Maratto at spring commencement on Saturday. Back row: Scott Maratto, Michael Bunker (CCM), Daniel Ryan (STC), Austin McFarlane (STC), Elsie Burton (STC). Front Row: Charlotte Haanela (English), Karissa Sanders (English), Kara Laramore (English), Cameron Gorelick (English), Aspen Stampfler (English), Maddie Nass (STC), Grace Parsekian (STC), Mindy Pierre (STC).

A total of 21 graduate and undergraduate students crossed the stage on Friday and Saturday at Michigan Tech’s annual spring commencement ceremonies.

18 Undergraduates, one masters, and two PhD students were honored over the weekend for having completed, or nearly completed, their degrees across four humanities programs.

Our 2024 graduates will go on to a wide variety of pursuits, from careers in communications, media, and academia; to graduate study in fields like law & policy, and archival studies; to traveling and studying abroad. We are so proud to see our students representing the diversity a humanities degree has to offer!

The department would like to offer our heartfelt congratulations to the following students:

Communication, Culture, and Media: Melissa Dowler, Lyndsay Lagreid, Elijah Poirier, Cole Risko, Ashton Verduin.

English: Cameron Gorelick, Charlotte Haanela, Kara Laramore, Karissa Sanders, Aspen Stampfler.

Scientific and Technical Communication: Michael Bunker, Elsie Burton, Joshua Jongema, Austin McFarlane, Maddie Nass, Grace Parsekian, Mindy Pierre, Daniel Ryan.

Rhetoric, Theory & Culture: Genevieve Delali Antonio (MS), Samantha Quade (PhD), Tori Reeder (PhD).

2024 Commencement Photos

Humanities Names 2024 Departmental and Program Scholars

A hearty congratulations to our humanities departmental and program scholars! These awards recognize outstanding performance of one undergraduate student in each of our three programs, as well as the department as a whole.

Congratulations to Griffin Six, our English program scholar, Alli Churchwell, our communication, culture, and media program scholar, and Aracely Hernandez-Ramos, our scientific and technical communication program scholar! Each program scholar receives $100 from the department in recognition of their achievements.

Griffin Six has also been named our humanities departmental scholar! Griffin will receive an additional $200 from the department, as well as eligibility for the Provost’s Award for Scholarship, which awards an additional $800 to recipients.

Congratulations and excellent work to all of our amazing humanities scholars!

“Bad Info” Project Funded by Michigan Humanities Grant

Dr. Stefka Hristova and Dr. Sue Collins (HU) have been awarded a grant by Michigan Humanities, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, for their project “Bad Info: Fake News, Manipulated Photographs, and Social Influencers.”

This project explores issues of media literacy in relation to the spread of mis- and dis-information. It aims to educate college students as well as our local community more broadly on how to identify fabricated news, manipulated photographs, and social influencers and their infomercials, in digital media and social media contexts.

This initiative is a collaborative effort involving the Department of Humanities, J. Robert Van Pelt and John and Ruanne Opie Library, and Copper Country Community Art Center. Bad Info features three exhibits, four workshops, film screenings, panel discussions, and keynote experts in information literacy.

The series of events will run from October 2021 through the spring semester 2022.

Abigail Kuehne (CCM) Named Member of MTU Team University Innovation Fellows

Congratulations to Abigail Kuehne (Psychology and Communication, Culture, and Media/ Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors ’21), Sam Raber (Psychology ’22), Lindsay Sandell (Biomedical Engineering ’21), and Gary Tropp (Computer Network and System Administration ’22), who have been named University Innovation Fellows by Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school). This global program trains student leaders to create new opportunities for their peers to engage with innovation, entrepreneurship, design thinking, and creativity.

Michigan Tech’s team of University Innovation Fellows support student interests, create an ecosystem for innovation, and encourage environmentally sustainable practices on campus. They aim to preserve a culture of inclusion, encourage creativity and self-authorship, and help students create lasting connections. Current UIF proposals include a university-sanctioned gap year program, updates to campus wellness opportunities, student ambassador programs, and creating a space to reduce waste and encourage students to share and reuse common school items.

University Innovation Fellowship logo

Students From Digital Imaging Course Showcase Work at Local Arts Center

Illustration of the Quincy Mine Shaft
Drawing of the Quincy Mine Shaft by Jan Manniko

Students from Stefka Hristova‘s Fundamentals of Digital Imaging course will be exhibiting their work at the Copper Country Community Arts Center’s “Shaft” exibit beginning Friday. The exhibit, held in the Kerredge Gallery, is a non-juried community exhibition inspired by mining in the Copper Country; the physical signs of its presence or the effect it has had on the area and its people.

The opening reception will be held on Friday, November 9 at 6 p.m. at the Arts Center. The public is invited to attend and vote on their favorite pieces. The exhibit will continue through November 30.

World War 1 in the Copper Country Armistice Commemoration Sunday

American soldiers in trenches during World War OneWorld War I & the Copper Country (WW1CC) will commemorate the Armistice of Nov. 11, 1918. The public will be welcomed with a bagpipe performance of “The Flowers of the Forest” and the distribution of paper poppies starting at 10:50 a.m. Sunday (Nov. 11) at the World War I Firing Trench (US-41 and MacInnes Drive).

The commemoration will begin promptly at 11 a.m. when bells will be synchronized to ring for 30 seconds. The Michigan Tech Joint Color Guard, consisting of Air Force and Army ROTC cadets, will present the colors. The program will include singing the National Anthem, a poem recitation, a prayer offering and a firing party (21-gun salute) by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Hubbell post.

Taps will be played by a formation of local student buglers, followed by the retirement of the colors. The commemoration will conclude by inviting guests to drop their poppies into the trench as they disperse.

Refreshments will be offered in the Wads Annex preceding and following the commemoration. In the event of inclement weather, the commemoration will move into the Wads Annex. Free parking will be available in any of the Michigan Tech lots directly opposite the trench on US-41.

41 North Film Festival Program Now Online

41 North Film Festival Logo, 41 N Film Festival Nov. 1-4 2018This year’s 41 North Film Festival will be held November 1-4 in the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts. The complete program is now online. The festival will feature events with several filmmakers, including Houghton native Heather Courtney (Where Soldiers Come From) who will be here with her new film, The Unafraid.

There will be panels on rural healthcare, STEM education, mining history, and a special work-in-progress screening of “Copperdog” (working title) about women mushers in our own Copperdog 150. The festival is free and open to the public. If you are not a student, please reserve a free ticket. Only one ticket needed for the entire event. Students should bring their Michigan Tech ID.

Free WW1CC Film Screening Tomorrow

Pierre Niney and Paula Beer in Frantz movieThe Modern Languages Program will host a screening of the François Ozon’s 2016 film Frantz at 7 p.m. tomorrow (Oct. 4) in Walker 134. The screening is free and open to the public.

Film synopsis: In 1919 Quedlinburg, Germany, a young woman named Anna is still mourning the death of her fiance, Frantz Hoffmeister, in the Great War while living with his devastated parents. One day, a mysterious Frenchman, Adrien Rivoire, comes to town both to pay his respects to Frantz’s grave and to contact that soldier’s parents. Adrian explains that he knew Frantz and gradually he wins Anna and the Hoffmeisters’ hearts as he tries to connect with them. But the truth of his motives unveils no easy answers to their complex personal conflicts with each other and the dead man linking them (from IMDB pro).

The screening is part of World War I in the Copper Country (WW1CC), an extensive program of events and exhibits commemorating the WWI Armistice. Partners include Michigan Technological University, the Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw, and Finlandia University. WW1CC is made possible in part by a grant from the Michigan Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in the WW1CC program do not necessarily reflect those of the NEH or the MHC.

World War I and The Copper Country Trench Webcam

American soldiers in trenches during World War OneAs part of World War I & The Copper Country, a full-scale reconstruction of a section of WWI firing trench on the front line can be viewed through our webcam! This webcam will be available until November 11.

Still Image | Streaming | Time Lapse

An immersive outdoor trench exhibit invites the public to imagine how soldiers experienced life in the trenches, including “going over the top.” This project is headed by Drs. Stanley Vitton and Kris Mattila (Civil and Environmental Engineering), and it involves student and faculty participants from across campus. The exhibit showcases an actual winding trench dug several feet into the ground and spanning several yards on the campus green. The exhibit is multifaceted featuring an acoustical installation simulating the sounds of battle designed by Christopher Plummer and Sound Design students (Visual & Performing Arts); looped recordings of memorial poetry and selections from soldier memoirs; and informative signage conveying historical facts about trench structure and trench warfare. Prospective plans include a commemorative ceremony to fill in the trench on November 11, 2018 with the participation of local VFW and American Legion groups, ROTC, and JROTC.

Image: Figure 20, Lubin 2015. American Soldiers in trenches, France (near Verdun). 1918 Library of Congress