Humanities News, Features, and Other Updates

Humanities Modern Language Program Announces Film Series

Published February 6, 2015

The Modern Language program is excited to kick off its bi-annual Film Series this semester on the theme “Alternate Realities.” The films selected for this semester are Africa Paradis, The Wall, and The German Doctor. All have English subtitles.

The first event is the French-language film Africa Paradis, which will screen this Thursday, February 12 at 7:00 pm in Walker 134. Africa Paradis turns our worldview on its head by imagining the Africa of the future as a world economic power, prosperous and united, while Europe has suffered a devastating political and economic crisis. When an unemployed French couple illegally enter the “United States of Africa” to find work, they encounter the politics of racism and tolerance.

There will be opportunities to learn more about our language programs and study abroad opportunities, as well as refreshments.

The event is free and open to the whole campus and the community. For more information, please email Dr. Ramon Fonkoué.

Download the poster here.

Study Abroad for Language Immersion

Published February 5, 2015

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MTU Alumna Cheryl Ball Receives Grant From the Mellon Foundation

Published February 3, 2015

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WVU photo by Brian Persinger — WVU photo of Dr. Cheryl Ball by Brian Persinger

Twenty-first century research and scholarship is changing. At one time, researchers could only submit written manuscripts to academic journals. The journals would send copies of the text to experts in the field who would determine if the manuscripts were fit for publication (peer review). Nowadays, both the content of those manuscripts and the process for evaluating them is changing.

Cheryl Ball is a 2005 PhD alumna of MTU’s RTC graduate program, and she’s now an associate professor of digital publishing studies in the Department of English in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University.

Ball has been rethinking the process for publishing multimedia-rich scholarship. Along with Andrew Morrison, professor of interdisciplinary design and director of the Centre for Design Research at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design in Norway, Ball is co-principal investigator for a project that that will build a digital tool that will allow experts in a variety of disciplines to review, critique and edit these 21st-century manuscripts.

To support these innovations the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded West Virginia University a $1 million grant, the University’s first Mellon grant. The three-year Mellon Foundation grant will support the development of Cairn, an online, free and open-source system that will help editors of scholarly multimedia journals, books and data sets engage in building and reading multimedia-rich, peer-reviewed content.

You can learn more about the Ball’s work and the grant here.

Bowen Awarded Jackson Grant

Published January 26, 2015

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The William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) has announced its 2015 grant recipients. The grants support course/program reform or expansion projects using blended and online learning. A committee assembled by the Provost and the CTL Director selected this year’s grant recipients from among many proposals.

Lauren Bowen, Assistant Professor of Composition and Director of First-Year Composition in the Humanities Department, was awarded a $10,000-level grant for her Composition in Digital Elements Environments proposal.

STC Alumnus Sean Fernstrum Interviewed by Maritime Executive Magazine

Published January 16, 2015

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Sean Fernstrum is a Michigan Tech Scientific & Technical Communications alumnus and the co-manager of R.W. Fernstrum & Company, a company that engineers cooling systems for the marine industry. He’s just been profiled and interviewed by Jack O’Connell of The Maritime Executive magazine. You can read the article here.

Second Edition of Culture and Technology: a Primer Published

Published January 13, 2015

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Humanities

Professor Jennifer Daryl Slack (HU) has co-authored a book, Culture and Technology: A Primer, whose second edition has just been published. Peter Lang, 2015.

Jackie Ellenich Is Making a Difference

Published January 9, 2015

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Back row: Jeff Lewin, Linnea McGowan-Hobmeier, Lori Weir, Amanda Cadwell, Catherine Burns, Darnishia Slade, and David Caspary Front row: Jackie Ellenich, Christina Sarazin, Andrea Ruotsala, and Mary Muncil — Back row: Jeff Lewin, Linnea McGowan-Hobmeier, Lori Weir, Amanda Cadwell, Catherine Burns, Darnishia Slade, and David Caspary
Front row: Jackie Ellenich, Christina Sarazin, Andrea Ruotsala, and Mary Muncil

At the MUB on Wednesday night, January 7th, a select group of staff members were honored with Michigan Tech Staff Council Making a Difference Awards.

Humanities’ own Jackie Ellenich received the Creative Solutions Award for her vision and her successful work at funding an international professional training in technical and scientific French to be hosted by MTU. The event also has the support of the French Embassy in Washington DC and the Chamber of Commerce of Paris. It’s the first event its kind in the US.

Congratulations, Jackie!

Romney Awarded Research Fellowship

Published January 7, 2015

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Humanities

Abraham Romney, assistant professor of rhetoric and composition in the Department of Humanities, was awarded a research fellowship for $5,000 from the International Society for the History of Rhetoric. The fellowship will support archival research to be conducted in South America.

Bad Feminism Makes Good Reading!

Published December 11, 2014

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The collection of essays, Bad Feminist, by RTC alumna Roxane Gay (PhD 2010) has just been named to The Atlantic’s “The Best Book I Read this Year” list. Here’s an excerpt from Tanvi Misra’s review:

The essays jump from her childhood obsession with Sweet Valley High to why she hates Django Unchained. (“My slavery revenge fantasy would probably involve being able to read and write without fear of punishment or persecution coupled with a long vacation in Paris.”) She’s hilarious. But she also confronts more difficult issues of race, sexual assault, body image, and the immigrant experience. She makes herself vulnerable and it’s refreshing.

Here’s the link to the full article.

On the Road

Published December 2, 2014

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The Center for Science and Environmental Outreach, along with the Michigan Tech Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers student chapter, conducted a Family Engineering Night at Escuela Avancemos Academy in Southwest Detroit (Mexicantown) on Nov. 24. John Deere provided support for the event, which featured activities in both English and Spanish and offered a free dinner in the school’s cafeteria. Approximately 180 participated, including students in grades K-5 and their family members.

The following members of the Michigan Tech community presented at the event:

Uzi Mendez ’13 (Bio Med)
Michael Briseno (Bio Med/ECE), undergraduate student
Zoe Miller (CEE), master’s student
Gabriella Shirkey ’13 (HU)
Joan Chadde, director of the Center for Science and Environmental Outreach