Category: Notables

Lafreniere Recipient of Innovative or Out of Class Teaching Award

Don Lafreniere
Don Lafreniere

Don Lafreniere, after nomination through the Deans’ Teaching Showcase, has been selected to receive the 2017 Innovative or Out of Class Teaching award from the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). Lafreniere was selected based on his work with forward thinking technologies and his unique approaches to active learning.

Recipients are asked to make a 30-45 minute presentation, sharing the work they are doing that has drawn this recognition. Don will be sharing his work on October 10 at 1:00. Click here to learn more.

Congratulations Don!

 

 

Langston Publishes New Book on Climate Change & Toxics in the Lake Superior Basin

slscover_3_origNancy Langston published a new book titled “Sustaining Lake Superior” (Yale University Press, Fall 2017).

 

Winkler Recipient of Excellence in Instruction Award

Richelle Winkler and Chelsea Schelly
Richelle Winkler and Chelsea Schelly at Rural Sociological Society Annual Meeting

Richelle Winkler was awarded the 2017 Excellence in Instruction Award from the Rural Sociological Society at their annual meeting on July 27, 2017 in Columbus, Ohio.

The purpose of the Excellence in Instruction Award is to recognize outstanding rural-oriented teaching by RSS members at the graduate and/or undergraduate level.  Note:  Innovation in teaching and learning is emphasized. Innovation may relate to a particular course, thematic area, population of students or pedagogical approach or technique. Evidence of impact should be provided.

Congratulations Richelle!

Richelle Winkler Wins 2017 Faculty Distinguished Service Award

Richelle Winkler
Richelle Winkler

Richelle Winkler, an associate professor in the Department of Social Sciences, is the recipient of the 2017 Faculty Distinguished Service Award.

The award is intended to complement the Distinguished Teaching and the Distinguished Research Awards already established at the University. It recognizes service to the University community that has significantly improved the quality of some aspect of campus life.

University Provost Jacqueline Huntoon says, “The faculty Distinguished Service Award Committee maintains very high standards and are only willing to make awards to individuals whose actions are particularly meritorious. Dr. Winkler exemplifies the characteristics that the award is intended to honor. She is an outstanding scholar whose efforts benefit the University and our community.”

Read the full story.

Congratulations Erin Pischke and Will Lytle – Student Leadership Awards

Will Lytle
Will Lytle
Erin Pischke
Erin Pischke

The 23rd Annual Student Leadership Awards were held Friday in the Memorial Union Ballroom.

President’s Award for Leadership was presented to Stuart Liburd, Jr., while Tyler Leverton was given the Provost’s Award for Scholarship.

The Vice President’s for Student Affairs Award for Service was won by Erin Richie.

The other individual and organization award winners were:

  • Exceptional Community Service Project – “Kemin Fena, Your Story, Our Story”
  • Exceptional Enthusiasm as a Student Leader – Martine Loevaas
  • Exceptional Leadership in Student Governance – William Lytle
  • Exceptional Program of the Year – Language Program, International Club
  • Most Improved Student Organization – Leaders in Continuous Improvement
  • Rising Star of the Year – Natalie McGrath
  • Student Employee of the Year – Eric Smith
  • Student Organization of the Year – Huskies Pep Band
  • Student Organization Advisor of the Year –  Michael Christianson (VPA)
  • Clair M. Donovan Award- Bradley Turner
  • Outstanding Future Alumni Award- Mackenzy Shega-Fox
  • Sorority Woman of the Year – Julie Karl
  • Fraternity Man of the Year – Joe Hurford
  • Sorority of the Year – Alpha Gamma Delta
  • Fraternity of the Year – Sigma Tau Gamma
  • Exceptional Graduate Student Leader – Erin Pischke
  • Exceptional Graduate Student Scholar – Wei Wei
  • Exceptional Graduate Mentor – Jessie Knowlton
  • Exceptional Staff Member– Jill Fisher
  • Percy Julian – Jimmie Cannon, Jr.

Langston and Gupta Radio Interview on DAPL Wins Best Feature Programming Award

Best Feature Programming Award.
Best Feature Programming Award.

A radio interview featuring Latika Gupta (SBE) and Nancy Langston (SS) won the Michigan Association of Broadcasting Award for Best Feature Programming. The Copper Country Today Segment discussed the Dakota Access Pipeline Controversy and initially aired on Dec. 18, 2016.

Gupta had provided her expertise as an energy economist and Langston had focused on sovereignty and environmental justice issues. The entire interview can be found on the Copper Country Today website.

Deans’ Teaching Showcase: Don Lafreniere

Bruce Seely and Don Lafreniere
Bruce Seely and Don Lafreniere

This week, the Deans’ Teaching Showcase returns to the College of Sciences and Arts, where Dean Bruce Seely has selected Don Lafreniere, an assistant professor in the Social Sciences Department.

Seely says that he nominated Lafreniere partly to highlight the area in which he is teaching — geographic information systems (GIS).

According to Seely, “Much of Don’s teaching helps students grasp the importance of geography generally and geospatial thinking specifically. This is what he cares about, and his enthusiasm and energy show in every discussion on this topic.”

But Seely says his primary reason for recognizing Lafreniere in this year’s Teaching Showcase comes back to his approach to student learning.

“In all my classes,” Lafreniere notes, “I strive to provide an environment in which students are comfortable questioning themselves and each other while facing the discomfort of challenging their accepted viewpoints. In small classes, I arrange the students in a circle, allowing for more intimate discussions and debates. I sit with my students, asking provocative questions and telling stories that push them to question their assumptions and inquire about how things are interconnected.”

Seely was intrigued by Lafreniere’s way of introducing the topic of homelessness. After assembling in the classroom, he told students to take off their coats and “follow me outside on a February morning. We stand in the snow, shivering, as I briefly outline the origins of homelessness in cities. We return to the warmth of the classroom to watch a short documentary in which homeless people share their experiences, then conclude with a discussion of the complexities of this social issue.”

This approach surely makes homelessness a more real situation to college students. For similar reasons, Lafreniere creates field experiences in every class, such as sending students to local grocery stores to “investigate the origins of fresh produce and to record all the manufacturers of a category of products, such as soup or cereal.”

This information informs a required report on how changes in the global food system are observed locally.

Lafreniere’s classroom effort also recognizes that “today’s university students live technologically-saturated lives.” Therefore he “embraces the use of technology to engage them.”

Lafreniere uses both Mentimeter and Poll Everywhere, two response systems that allows students to answer questions via their laptops or cellphones. The results are displayed in real-time on a PowerPoint slide and help gauge student comprehension.

Frequently Lafreniere brings online digital exhibits into courses. For example, he “illustrated the process of socially-constructed places with PhilaPlace, an interactive archive which allows residents of Philadelphia to map their own stories of places in their neighborhood.”

While Lafreniere spends much of his time helping students master the computer-based technology of GIS, he presents that tool as only a technique for continuing to question themselves about the natural and built environment that surrounds them.  His enthusiasm for that task is why he is part of this year’s Deans Teaching Showcase.

Lafreniere will be recognized at an end-of-term luncheon with 11 other showcase members, and is now eligible for one of three new teaching awards to be given by the William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning this summer recognizing introductory or large-class teaching, innovative or outside-the-classroom  teaching methods, or work in curriculum and assessment.