Humanities News, Features, and Other Updates

Category: STC

Hernandez-Ramos Inducted into STC Student Honorary Society

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Scientific and Technical Communication major Aracely Hernandez-Ramos was inducted into the Society for Technical Communication’s student honorary society Sigma Tau Chi.

Aracely Hernandez-Ramos was inducted into the Society for Technical Communication’s student honorary society Sigma Tau Chi in a ceremony at the society’s annual conference on May 18th. Membership into the society is an honor awarded to students enrolled in a technical communication program who “[…] have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or above, are exemplary in participation in STC, and demonstrate a potential for significant contribution to the profession. In 2024, only two STC student members were awarded this distinction.”

Hernandez-Ramos is an undergraduate in humanities’ scientific and technical communication program, as well as the president of MTU’s student chapter of the Society for Technical Communication. She is also a coach at the Michigan Tech writing center, and can commonly be seen around the department.

Our heartfelt congratulations to Aracely!

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Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows Study Amtrak

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STC Majors Lena Lukowski, Riley Powers, and Davi Prague.

Three Humanities undergraduates have been awarded Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) for 2022. All three will be carrying out their research in conjunction with the study-away program, “Amtrak Tourism: Trains, Cities, & Sustainability” led by Mark Rhodes, Assistant Professor of Geography in Michigan Tech’s Social Sciences department. Students in the Amtrak Tourism program travel on Amtrak for a three week tour of the western United States and study topics related to human geography, sustainability, and the urban environment along the way.

Lena Lukowski’s project, “Locating Tourism Rhetoric: A Comparative Study” pays attention to the connection between location and tourism rhetoric in different cities across the United States. She is interested in seeing how the way in which tourism is discussed changes with the landscape and location. Lukowski is pursuing a double degree in Mechanical Engineering and Scientific and Technical Communication.

Riley Powers’s project, “Public Tourism Infrastructure and Accessibility: Comparison of Metropolitan, Micropolitan, and Rural Structures” will focus on public tourism infrastructure accessibility design, with a particular focus on the infrastructure encountered by students participating in the Amtrak Tourism study-away program. Powers’ work includes consulting with those who plan and design infrastructure as well as those who are impacted by disparities in accessibility. Results of the study will be shared with stakeholders locally in the Houghton/Keweenaw area, with the aim of highlighting ways to improve accessibility for public tourism in our own community. Powers is a Scientific and Technical Communication major.

Davi Sprague’s project, “Understanding the Relationship Between Rail Communities and Rail Infrastructure” seeks to answer the question, how did rail and train stations influence the urbanization, industrialization, and deindustrialization of rail communities and how are these communities planning for the future? Sprague, a Scientific and Technical Communication major, will combine archival research with filmmaking to produce a short video documentary that features historical and contemporary sources as well as highlights from the study-away program itself.

The SURF fellowship program is administered by Michigan Tech’s Pavlis Honors College. Fellowship recipients conduct a research project under the guidance of a Michigan Tech faculty mentor during the summer semester and, at the conclusion of their work, present their research at the Michigan Tech Undergraduate Research Symposium, or at a professional conference in their field. 

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Zach Nicholas named Assistant Director of Athletic Marketing and Communication

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Michigan Tech Athletics has hired Zach Nicholas (STC, ’19) as assistant director of athletic marketing and communication. Nicholas will serve as the primary media contact for soccer, Nordic skiing, and track and field. He will also assist the director of advertising sales with the execution of partnership contracts and artwork.

Nicholas continues with Michigan Tech after three years as an athletic communications intern. He is a native of South Range, Michigan.

“I am very thankful to have the opportunity to promote my hometown Huskies, tell stories of our incredible student-athletes, and establish and maintain strong relationships in the community,” Nicholas said. “I am very appreciative of the invaluable experience and knowledge I have gained as an intern and am excited to continue with Michigan Tech in a new role.”

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Andrew Fiss Publishes Article in Peitho

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Andrew FissAndrew Fiss has published a research article titled “Structures of Antifeminism: Drugs and Women’s Education in the Texts of Dr. Clarke” in the rhetoric journal Peitho. The article used rare books from the Countway Library of Medicine at Harvard to track the historical roots of a pervasive antifeminist argument that has kept women from higher education since the Civil War Era. The article indicates how the structure of this argument came from early classes in pharmacy delivered by Boston doctor Edward H. Clarke in the 1850s-60s, popularizing discrimination through (implicitly, structurally) presenting women’s education as a dangerous drug that could be overused/abused.

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STEM Docs at the 41 North Film Festival

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41 North Film Festival Logo, 41 N Film Festival Nov. 1-4 2018

This year, the 41 North Film Festival will screen five films delving into history, issues and accomplishments relating to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) innovation.

The featured films look at high school students competing for an international prize (“Science Fair”), an early Silicon Valley startup (“General Magic“), internet censorship (“The Cleaners”), the first photograph of the moon taken from space (“Earthrise”) and the first solar-powered flight around the world (“Point of No Return”). Following the showing of “Science Fair” at 7 p.m. Thursday (Nov. 1) there will be a discussion featuring a panel of STEM educators.

Documentaries can bring important context and perspective to our understanding of STEM fields and their impact on the world. The films this year tell both celebratory and cautionary tales that should be both inspiring and thought provoking. —Erin Smith, Festival Director

The festival runs Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 1–4 at the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts. Times and information for specific films and events can be found on the festival website. As always, the festival is free and open to the public.

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The CinOptic Enterprise Team Wins First Place!

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CinOptic team photoThe Humanities Department’s CinOptic Enterprise Team won first place in the Enterprise Team competition at the 2018 Design Expo for their poster and presentation. Pictured, from left to right are:
Back: Zach Martens (STC), Sarah Lindbeck (STC), Noah Kozminski (STC), Shaun Burriss (Math Ed), McKenzy Rehfus (CCM)
Front: Eric Smith (VPA), Abigail Kuehne (CCM)
Photo by: Nathan Shaiyen, CCM and CinOptic member.
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Andrew Fiss Awarded Research Excellence Fund Award

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Andrew FissThe Department of Humanities congratulates Andrew Fiss for receiving a Scholarship and Creativity Grant through the Research Excellence Fund. The Vice President for Research Office announced the 2018 Research Excellence Fund awards and thanked the volunteer review committees, as well as the deans and department chairs, for their time spent on this important internal research award process.

This grant provides support to encourage faculty to engage in scholarly research, learning, and creative activities to enhance professional development.

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