Liam Andersen, Intern at Keweenaw Research Center

Keweenaw Research CenterI spent my spring and summer semesters in 2018 working at the Keweenaw Research Center (KRC). My main job was writing project reports—actually, it was writing one project report. There was a two-year research effort about tank ice cleats that was wrapping up when I started the KRC, and I was given the final report for it. The job was a classic cubicle farm, reports-and-spreadsheets deal. Most of the work they do involves military contracts based on ground vehicle testing. Absolutely everything about the job was foreign to me. I’d never done real technical writing before, and I was dumped right into it with very little actual instruction; I only got a folder of information and the gist of the project.  Because of that, though, it was one of the fastest learning experiences of my life.

Having a trial by fire like that as my first internship was amazing in terms of preparation for other jobs. Since I was thrown in with little direction, I had to make my own way, wading through the confusion about how the data was organized, interpreting all the raw scientific data, and gleaning what the engineers had neglected to mention in their briefings. All my work since then has been incredibly smooth in comparison—knowing how rocky a starting point can be gave me an appreciation for every bit of help I get.

The actual experience I gained from the job was hugely eye-opening, too. The way the KRC is run is very informal in some places, but mind-bogglingly procedural in others. The cognitive whiplash from switching between the two nearly snapped my neck. On top of that, there were a hundred little things every day that I had to learn, or at least become familiar with, like modeling software and weird physics concepts. I hadn’t really thought about whether I wanted to work as a technical writer in an engineering field, but I’m glad I tried it—I would never know whether I liked it if I hadn’t. I definitely learned more about my limits from this job.

Looking back on it, I think I would’ve liked my first internship to be a bit more relaxed, but sometimes getting burned is the best thing that can happen to you—you might just come out fireproof.

Andrew Fiss Awarded Research Excellence Fund Award

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.

Anna K. Swartz Participates as Invited Panelist

Anna K. SwartzAnna K. Swartz, a graduate of Rhetoric, Theory & Culture, participated as an invited panelist at the 2018 Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy and Ethics Spring Symposium: “Held Against My Will: Conversations About Involuntary Commitment and Forced Treatment” at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law in Los Angeles, California on April 16.

Nancy Henaku Receives Feminist Research Grant

Nancy HenakuNancy Henaku, a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the RTC program, has received one of three inaugural Feminist Research Grants awarded by the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition. This will support her travel to archives for her dissertation research on the rhetoric of Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, the first female candidate for president of Ghana. The review committee “expressed great enthusiasm for [her] dissertation project, which is poised to bring important perspective from the global South and specifically from Ghana to ongoing research in transnational feminist rhetoric.”

Sarah Potter Receives Top Award

Sara PotterRTC PhD student Sarah Potter received a top paper award and presented the paper on the panel, Top Papers in the Communication Ethics, Activism, and Social Justice Interest Group at the Central States Communication Association Conference. The paper title is “Different Rights (in)Different Times: Rendering the Invisible Visible in a Comparative Iconographic Analysis of the Women’s Suffrage Parade of 1913 and the 2017 Women’s March on Washington.” She was also a panel member for the graduate student discussion session, “When the Experts Don’t Agree: Navigating Differences in Faculty Advice.” The conference was held April 5-8, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Armistice and Aftermath: A World War One Symposium

World War 1 and the Copper Country project logo and event detailsThis year’s Armistice Day, November 11, 2018, marks the centenary end of World War I. As part of the commemoration, Armistice and Aftermath: A World War One Symposium will take place September 28-29, 2018. The Symposium is open to faculty, students, staff, local residents, high school teachers, and academics from other universities. The Symposium offers an opportunity to explore the conditions and impacts of the “Great War,” as experienced during and afterwards, with a special focus on the American Heartland. The war had tremendous human and economic repercussions. It also motivated technological, medical, and cultural advances, and it paved the way for transformative social change, from Prohibition to women’s suffrage.

Two keynote speakers will highlight relations of race, class, and gender during and after WWI. Dr. John H. Morrow, Jr., will speak on Friday evening, September 28. He is Franklin Professor of History at the University of Georgia. His research examines the experiences of the African-American men in the 369th Regiment who fought in Europe and their subsequent fates. Dr. Lynn Dumenil will speakSaturday, September 29. She is the Robert Glass Cleland Professor Emerita of American History at Occidental College and is well known for her research into the roles of American women both on the homefront and the battlefront. Their keynote lectures will be free and open to the public.

There will be no fees for attending or presenting at the conference. Those interested in presenting are asked to submit a 350-500 word abstract by May 1, 2018 and a brief biographical statement to:ww1cc.mtu.edu/cfp Direct questions to Dr. Patty Sotirin, Humanities; Dr. Steve Walton, Social Sciences, or Dr. Sue Collins, Humanities.

Along with the Symposium, the War and its aftermath will be commemorated in a series of free public exhibits, installations, lectures, and films. Dr. Sue Collins, Humanities, is coordinating this extended commemoration. The events will take place during the months of June through November at various locations on the Michigan Tech campus, the Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw, Finlandia University, and the Orpheum Theater. Among these events:

  • Europe, America, and the World: An Outdoor Concert. Featuring the music of James Reese Europe performed by MTU Superior Wind Symphony
  • An Evening of Silent Film. Featuring Charlie Chaplin’s Shoulder Arms (1918) with live musical accompaniment, Rozsa Theater
  • A WWI Trench. With battle soundscape, readings from soldiers’ memoirs, and war poetry, on the grounds of Michigan Tech
  • American and French Propaganda Posters and the Great War. Rozsa Gallery, courtesy of Marquette Regional History Center
  • Shell-shocked: Footage and Sounds of the Front. Film with sound installation, Rozsa Gallery
  • Philosophy, Technology, & Warfare. A multimedia screens exhibit, Immersive Visualization Studio, MTU
  • Soldier Stories: The U.P. in World War I. Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw, courtesy of Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center
  • World War I & the Copper Country Home Front. Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw
  • Copper Country Voices of Dissent in the Great War. Finnish American Heritage Center, Finlandia University

The Symposium and the ongoing commemorative events are supported in part by a grant from the Michigan Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities; the Visiting Women and Minority Lecturer Series; as well as through donations from Institutional Equity and Inclusion at Michigan Tech; the departments of Humanities, Visual and Performing Arts, Social Sciences, Air Force ROTC, Army ROTC; Finlandia University; and the Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw.

Distinguished Lecture Series Presents Nicholas Mirzoeff

Event poster for Nicholas Mirzoeff Lecture The Humanities department will be hosting Professor Nicholas Mirzoeff (NYU). He’ll be giving a public lecture entitled “Ungovernable Aesthetics” in the MUB Ballroom on Friday, April 135-6.30 p.m.
He will also lead a seminar Saturday morning, April 14, in the Cherry Room of Wadsworth Hall, beginning at 9.30am. If anyone would like to join us for this seminar (faculty and graduate students) and would like to do the reading, please contact Dana Van Kooy (drvankoo@mtu.edu).