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A Life-Changing Enterprise<br />
A Peek Inside the <strong>University</strong> Archives<br />
Aristotle and Aikido: Virtue in Action<br />
Study at the Crossroads of Music and Race<br />
Excellence<br />
Alumnae/i Spotlight: August Aleksy Jr.<br />
Faculty Spotlight: Adrian Kok, PhD<br />
Fall 2010<br />
The Magazine of <strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
and<br />
Accountability<br />
Building a Distinctive Educational Experience
ttechnology hnolo<br />
learning g<br />
by doing<br />
Sincerely,<br />
accreditation<br />
curriculum mapping<br />
From the President<br />
Dear Alumnae/i and Special Friends:<br />
So often in the news today you read about the resistance of higher education to the public<br />
call for accountability and transparency. I think that portrayal is somewhat harsh —<br />
and reflects a bit of a misunderstanding. Most institutions of higher learning are deeply involved<br />
in self-assessment. In fact, many university programs also are accountable to rigorous external<br />
standards, qualified by equally rigorous peer review.<br />
The purpose of this magazine is to give you a peek at some of the standards, activities and<br />
processes that help ensure continuous improvement at <strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong>. Not surprisingly,<br />
our School of Education is actively engaged in such endeavors — to prepare for National Council<br />
for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) accreditation, but also and more importantly, to<br />
ensure high-quality teacher preparation. Across all our schools and degrees the focus is on<br />
accountability in the service of excellence, and we are proud to be transparent about our efforts.<br />
Because education at <strong>Dominican</strong> is increasingly outcomes oriented, processes for tracking<br />
(or mapping) student learning have gotten much more sophisticated. The liberal arts and<br />
sciences seminars in Rosary College provide one example of how shared learning goals are threaded<br />
through the four-year undergraduate core curriculum. Linking course registrations is another<br />
hopeful activity. Our new strategic plan identifies such integrated learning as an academic priority.<br />
Of course, assurance of learning measures take into account learning by doing as well as the<br />
traditional classroom experience. The richness of <strong>Dominican</strong>’s co-curricular offerings is not<br />
only measurable, but defining. Study abroad, for instance, has proven to be a life-changing<br />
experience for students. International service learning further amplifies that experience and,<br />
I am particularly excited about the Brennan School’s plan to introduce intensive international<br />
business residency engagements through its Center for Global Peace through Commerce.<br />
More and more, technology helps higher education embrace accountability because it makes<br />
managing and communicating outcomes easier. This year, for instance, <strong>Dominican</strong> added a<br />
retention management module to its information infrastructure, allowing academic advisors and<br />
student services personnel to identify at-risk students earlier and more effectively. Progress on the<br />
university’s new strategic plan will be monitored and communicated on a web-based dashboard.<br />
So what is the truth about public accountability and transparency in higher education? On the<br />
one hand, such expectations do require a shift in culture for universities and faculty accustomed<br />
to autonomy. Then again, research is a part of academic life, and no one is more invested in<br />
measures of student success than those who teach. That is our posture at <strong>Dominican</strong>, and the<br />
better able we are to articulate goals and demonstrate outcomes in the context of mission and<br />
vision, the less likely that other goals will be thrust upon us.<br />
This magazine is one way that <strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> is accountable to you, our stakeholders.<br />
Take a peek!<br />
Donna M. Carroll, President<br />
accountability in the service of excel excellence
DU NEWS<br />
2 Provost Elected to Higher<br />
Learning Commission<br />
Brennan Professor Examines<br />
Studies on Microfinance<br />
and Poverty<br />
Commencement 2010<br />
3 Nutrition Science Students<br />
Win Burger Throwdown<br />
4 DU Celebrates<br />
Alice’s Adventures<br />
President Donna Carroll<br />
Named by Crain’s as a<br />
“Woman to Watch”<br />
5 2010-2011<br />
Performing Arts Schedule<br />
GSLIS Releases<br />
National Study<br />
2<br />
View the online version of<br />
the <strong>Dominican</strong> Magazine for<br />
all of the content included<br />
in the printed magazine<br />
and recent issues you may<br />
have missed.<br />
dom.edu/magazine<br />
6<br />
FEATURES<br />
6 Excellence and Accountability<br />
Building a Distinctive Educational Experience<br />
10 A Life-Changing Enterprise<br />
No Business Plan Required<br />
12 Preserving History<br />
A Peek Inside the <strong>University</strong> Archives<br />
14 Aristotle and Aikido<br />
Virtue in Action<br />
16 Study at the Crossroads of<br />
Music and Race<br />
18 Alumnae/i Spotlight:<br />
August Aleksy Jr.<br />
20 Faculty Spotlight: Adrian Kok, PhD<br />
Fall 2010<br />
The Magazine of <strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
DEPARTMENTS<br />
22 Faculty Briefs<br />
24 Class News<br />
24<br />
35 In Sympathy<br />
36 Calendar of Events<br />
Back Cover Passing Glances<br />
PRESIDENT<br />
Donna M. Carroll<br />
VICE PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT<br />
Grace Cichomska<br />
CHIEF MARKETING AND<br />
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER<br />
Jeff Kraft<br />
EDITOR<br />
Tina Weinheimer<br />
ART DIRECTOR<br />
Pam Norpell<br />
DESIGN<br />
Pagliuco Design Company<br />
BACK<br />
<strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
7900 West Division St.<br />
River Forest, IL 60305<br />
708 366 2490<br />
www.dom.edu<br />
magazine@dom.edu<br />
<strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> Magazine is<br />
published semiannually by the Office<br />
of Marketing and Communications.<br />
Reproduction in whole or part is<br />
prohibited without written permission.<br />
©2010 <strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong>
2<br />
DU NEWS<br />
Provost Elected to<br />
Higher Learning<br />
Commission<br />
<strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> announces that<br />
Cheryl Johnson-Odim, PhD, provost and<br />
vice president for academic affairs, has been<br />
elected to a four-year term on the board of<br />
trustees of The Higher Learning Commission<br />
(HLC), which is headquartered in Chicago.<br />
The HLC accredits degree-granting postsecondary<br />
educational institutions and is a<br />
commission member of the North Central<br />
Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA)<br />
– one of six regional institutional accreditors<br />
in the United States. The commission accredits<br />
more than 1,000 colleges and universities in<br />
Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois,<br />
Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota,<br />
Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio,<br />
Oklahoma, New Mexico, South Dakota,<br />
Wisconsin, West Virginia and Wyoming.<br />
While assuring and enhancing the quality<br />
of higher learning, the board of the HLC is<br />
responsible for creating commission policy,<br />
overseeing finances and planning, and directing<br />
institutional actions related to the granting,<br />
sanctions and withdrawal of accreditation.<br />
“I am honored to serve on the board of<br />
trustees of the Higher Learning Commission,<br />
and to work closely with an outstanding team<br />
of colleagues to do the important work of<br />
assuring rigor and rewarding innovative quality<br />
in higher education,” Johnson-Odim says.<br />
dom.edu / magazine<br />
Brennan Professor Examines Studies<br />
on Microfinance and Poverty<br />
K<br />
athleen Odell, PhD, assistant professor of economics and Fulbright scholar has<br />
written a paper entitled “Measuring the Impact of Microfinance: Taking Another<br />
Look,” released by the Grameen Foundation assessing recent studies on the effectiveness<br />
of microfinance in alleviating poverty. The paper provides a comprehensive analysis of<br />
studies, conducted between 2005 and 2010 that attempted to measure the impact of<br />
microfinance on impoverished areas throughout the world.<br />
The paper serves as an update of a publication released by the Grameen Foundation in 2005,<br />
which reviewed nearly 100 studies conducted since 1970 on the impact of microfinance.<br />
In her paper, Odell reports both positive and negative findings on the effectiveness of<br />
microfinance. In particular, Odell found that microfinance is effective for business<br />
expansion, resulting in increases in business ownership, investment and profits. However,<br />
her analysis indicated that the effects of microfinance on poverty and measures of social<br />
well-being such as education, health and women’s empowerment were more ambiguous.<br />
Microfinance is a relatively recent phenomenon that primarily provides small,<br />
noncollateralized loans to low-income clients, typically from developing countries,<br />
who lack access to banking and related services. While microfinance usually refers<br />
to the provision of credit, it also refers to a broad range of services including savings<br />
and insurance. As of December 2007, the Microcredit Summit Campaign counted<br />
3,552 microfinance institutions worldwide, serving nearly 155 million borrowers.<br />
The Grameen Foundation was established in 1997 by Alex Counts with the support of<br />
Dr. Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Yunus and Grameen<br />
Bank jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, and Yunus received the Presidential<br />
Medal of Freedom in 2009 for his effort<br />
to create economic and social development<br />
in developing countries. The Grameen<br />
Foundation supports microfinance<br />
institutions and organizations fighting<br />
poverty on a global scale.<br />
Odell’s paper can be found at<br />
www.dom.edu/magazine/microfinance<br />
Commencement 2010<br />
N<br />
early 600 new <strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> graduates crossed the Lund Auditorium stage<br />
on Saturday, May 8, as their families, friends and loved ones watched and cheered<br />
from both within the auditorium and via live stream to the Igini Sports Forum and<br />
homes and sites around the world. Honored guests included Julia Keller, cultural critic<br />
and Pulitizer Prize-winning feature writer for the Chicago Tribune, who shared her best<br />
wishes, keen insights and sage wisdom at the undergraduate ceremony; and Julian<br />
Posada, founder and publisher of Café Media – a fast-growing media company targeting<br />
second- and third-generation Latinos – who spoke at the graduate ceremony. <strong>Dominican</strong><br />
congratulates all the new graduates and extends best wishes in the pursuit of new<br />
personal, professional and educational adventures.<br />
Go to www.dom.edu/magazine to view additional photographs from the<br />
2010 Commencement ceremonies and from Candle and Rose.
Nutrition Science Students Win Burger Throwdown<br />
Under the guidance of Professor Caren Messina-Hirsch (second from left), DU<br />
nutrition science students took first place in the American Culinary Federation’s<br />
Burger Throwdown for their Asian-inspired burger recipe.<br />
W<br />
hen severe storms knocked<br />
out power in the university’s<br />
nutrition lab, DU’s nutrition<br />
science students initially saw<br />
their hopes of competing in the<br />
American Culinary Federation’s<br />
Windy City Chapter burger<br />
barbeque go up in smoke. The<br />
power outage not only ruined all<br />
of their produce but eliminated<br />
their practice and preparation<br />
site as well. But instead of giving<br />
up, the students – most of whom<br />
were juggling full-time work<br />
schedules in addition to school –<br />
rolled up their sleeves, split up<br />
their grocery shopping and spent<br />
an entire day working out of their<br />
teacher’s home test kitchen. The<br />
team was rewarded when they<br />
brought back the first place<br />
trophy from the ACF’s second<br />
annual Burger Throwdown in June.<br />
Dubbing their award-winning<br />
burger “The Asian Invasion,”<br />
the students incorporated an<br />
antioxidant-rich spice rub<br />
consisting of Chinese Five-Spice<br />
powder, Indian cumin, Malabar<br />
pepper and Bangkok Blend.<br />
Research has shown that some<br />
spice mixtures reduce the<br />
carcinogens naturally formed<br />
during grilling. The burger<br />
presentation also included sake e<br />
mustard aioli, sweet and sour<br />
pickled daikon, Asian peanut<br />
slaw, and tomato lemongrass<br />
chutney – and fortune cookies for<br />
the judges (incorporating sayings<br />
claiming that fortune comes to<br />
those voting for <strong>Dominican</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong>). As a good luck charm,<br />
the team borrowed an authentic<br />
gong from the Indonesian<br />
Embassy in Chicago.<br />
The Windy City Chapter of the<br />
American Culinary Federation,<br />
the largest chefs organization in<br />
North America, launched the<br />
Burger Throwdown last year as a<br />
way of encouraging student<br />
participation. The competition<br />
attracted teams from Kendall<br />
College, the College of DuPage,<br />
Le Cordon Bleu and the Goodwill<br />
Culinary Institute. Submissions<br />
were judged on their creativity,<br />
appearance, moisture and taste,<br />
and teams were evaluated<br />
on their work habits and<br />
presentation skills.<br />
DU NEWS<br />
Judges included noted local and<br />
regional chefs, restaurant<br />
owners, and food entrepreneurs.<br />
“I was so proud of the students<br />
– this was their first time<br />
competing in the contest and<br />
they showed such creativity and<br />
tenacity in overcoming a number<br />
of obstacles. They were a great<br />
team to work with – serious but<br />
fun with a good grasp of the<br />
layers of flavor and the joy of<br />
working with food,” said Caren<br />
Messina-Hirsch, adjunct faculty<br />
and education chair of the ACF<br />
Windy City Chapter.<br />
The students will prepare their<br />
award-winning burger at the U.S.<br />
Foodservice-Chicago’s annual<br />
food show in September. See<br />
their award winning recipe at<br />
www.dom.edu/magazine/burger.<br />
3
4<br />
DU NEWS<br />
DU Celebrates Alice’s Adventures<br />
A<br />
n estimated 300 community guests joined in celebrating the<br />
enduring charm of Alice in Wonderland with a community picnic<br />
and free tea party on Sunday, July 11. Within the charming environs of<br />
the Quad, families dined on picnic suppers and enjoyed complimentary<br />
cookies, tea and lemonade, croquet games, a dramatic reading by<br />
renowned storyteller Janice Del Negro, PhD, assistant professor,<br />
GSLIS, from Lewis Carroll’s beloved tale, and a performance by<br />
children enrolled in the Actors Garden. Contributing to the festive<br />
spirit and ambiance were Alice, the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts<br />
and other book characters who strolled the Quad visiting with the<br />
children. The annual event highlighted the university’s Butler<br />
Children’s Literature Center, one of the nation’s premier centers for<br />
the study of children’s and young adult literature, which served as<br />
a co-sponsor of the event with the Graduate School of Library and<br />
Information Science and the Rebecca Crown Library.<br />
President Donna Carroll Named by Crain’s as a “Woman to Watch”<br />
P<br />
resident Donna M. Carroll<br />
was recently named by<br />
Crain’s Chicago Business magazine<br />
as one of its “Women to Watch<br />
2010.” Carroll is honored with 20<br />
businesswomen who are leading<br />
some of Chicago’s most important<br />
institutions, many of which are<br />
on the cusp of major change. In<br />
addition, Carroll is featured in a<br />
video, hosted on Crain’s website,<br />
focusing on challenges faced and<br />
surmounted by three female<br />
business leaders.<br />
dom.edu / magazine<br />
Brightly colored balloons and tablecloths, costumed<br />
characters and pink flamingos set a festive, tea-party<br />
mood at this summer’s community picnic highlighting the<br />
university’s Butler Children’s Literature Center.<br />
PHOTO CREDIT<br />
Erik Unger<br />
Crain's Chicago Business<br />
Other honorees this year include<br />
Oprah Winfrey, chairman of<br />
Harpo Inc.; Irene Rosenfeld,<br />
chairman and CEO of Kraft Foods;<br />
Jan Fields, president of McDonald’s<br />
Corporation; Brenda Barnes,<br />
chairman and CEO of Sara Lee<br />
Corporation; Penny Pritzker,<br />
chairman of Pritzker Realty<br />
Group, LLC and director of Hyatt<br />
Hotels Corporation; and Linda<br />
Johnson Rice, chairman and CEO<br />
of Johnson Publishing Company.<br />
Carroll has served as president of<br />
<strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> since 1994.<br />
Over the past 16 years, the<br />
university’s enrollment has<br />
doubled and its operating budget<br />
has tripled. During her tenure,<br />
Carroll has negotiated the change<br />
in the university’s name from<br />
Rosary College; managed the<br />
purchase of a second campus;<br />
successfully completed a $50+<br />
million capital campaign that<br />
included the construction of a<br />
state-of-the-art academic<br />
building; and oversaw the<br />
addition of the university’s first<br />
doctoral program in library and<br />
information science.<br />
Over the past decade, <strong>Dominican</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong> has been consistently<br />
ranked by U.S. News & World<br />
Report magazine in the top tier of<br />
Midwest master’s level universities.<br />
The university is ranked as<br />
one of the top 20 Midwest<br />
master’s level universities in the<br />
magazine’s 2010 “America’s<br />
Best Colleges” issue.<br />
Carroll is a trustee of Fordham<br />
<strong>University</strong> and serves on the<br />
board of the Council of Independent<br />
Colleges. In addition, she is a<br />
director of Rush Oak Park Hospital<br />
and Oak Park Development<br />
Corporation and is a member of<br />
the school board of the Archdiocese<br />
of Chicago. She has been named<br />
one of the “10 Women Who<br />
Make a Difference” by Today’s<br />
Chicago Woman, and was listed<br />
as one of the top 10 women in<br />
education by the Chicago Sun<br />
Times. She has also received the<br />
1998 Woman with Vision Award<br />
from the Illinois Women’s Bar<br />
Association, the 2004 CEO<br />
Leadership Award from the<br />
Council for Advancement and<br />
Support of Education and the<br />
2007 Athena Award from the<br />
Oak Park River Forest Chamber<br />
of Commerce.
2010-2011<br />
Performing Arts Schedule<br />
With an exciting season of<br />
events ahead, we invite you to<br />
unplug and connect at DUPAC,<br />
your home for the creative<br />
spirit. For complete information<br />
and to purchase tickets, go to<br />
www.dom.edu/pac.<br />
October 7, 2010<br />
Reader’s Theatre – Martin Hall<br />
October 9, 2010<br />
Sara Evans: President’s<br />
Signature Concert<br />
Vibrant singer-songwriter<br />
blending contemporary sound<br />
with bluegrass roots<br />
November 12-14, 2010<br />
The Wiz<br />
The beloved story of courage,<br />
brains, heart and home<br />
November 20, 2010<br />
Sergio and Odair Assad<br />
Captivating Brazilian<br />
guitar virtuosos<br />
December 4, 2010<br />
Sweet Honey in the Rock ®<br />
A very special holiday concert<br />
with world-renowned<br />
a cappella ensemble<br />
January 29, 2011<br />
Ensemble Español<br />
A sizzling celebration of the<br />
passion of Spanish dance<br />
February 25-27, 2011<br />
The Women of Lockerbie<br />
by Deborah Brevoort<br />
A powerhouse drama<br />
of unthinkable loss<br />
and redemption<br />
March 4, 2011<br />
Circo Aereo<br />
Circus meets theatre<br />
in this playful<br />
Franco-Finnish collaboration<br />
March 12, 2011<br />
Camerata Ireland<br />
31st Annual Trustee Benefit<br />
Concert, featuring acclaimed<br />
pianist Barry Douglas.<br />
March 18-19, 2011<br />
Black Box Experiment:<br />
Wendy Wasserstein,<br />
the Uncommon Woman<br />
A celebration of the life<br />
and work of Pulitzer<br />
Prize-winning playwright<br />
April 15-17, 2011<br />
She Stoops to Conquer by<br />
Oliver Goldsmith<br />
A delightful and charming<br />
comedy of romantic<br />
entanglement<br />
May 1, 2011<br />
Garrison Keillor<br />
Best-selling author and host of<br />
The Prairie Home Companion<br />
GSLIS Releases National Study<br />
T<br />
he Graduate School of Library and Information Science recently<br />
released the results of a three-year national study on the<br />
effectiveness of summer reading programs offered by public libraries<br />
across the country. The study, conducted in collaboration with the<br />
Johns Hopkins <strong>University</strong> Center for Summer Learning, was funded<br />
through a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum<br />
and Library Services.<br />
The study provides a rigorous quantitative and qualitative evaluation<br />
of the impact of public library summer reading programs on summer<br />
reading loss through the examination of students from large and small<br />
communities in rural, urban and suburban areas during the summer<br />
between third and fourth grade. The study pays particular attention to<br />
students from low-income families.<br />
Students completing third<br />
grade and entering fourth<br />
grade were specifically<br />
selected for the study<br />
because this grade appears<br />
to be a transitional year from<br />
learning to read to reading to<br />
learn. According to the<br />
National Assessment of<br />
Educational Progress, fewer<br />
than one-third of U.S.<br />
fourth-graders meet the<br />
proficient standard; in fact,<br />
over 85 percent of students<br />
in high-poverty schools fail<br />
to reach the proficiency level.<br />
DU NEWS<br />
According to the study results, students who participated in public<br />
library summer reading programs scored higher on reading<br />
achievement tests at the beginning of the next school year than<br />
those students who did not participate. In addition, there were<br />
additional benefits for students who participated in the public library<br />
summer reading program: they did not experience summer reading<br />
loss and began the next school year with more confidence.<br />
“Public librarians have been under pressure from federal, state and<br />
private funders to prove that tax dollars spent on summer reading<br />
programs yield a valuable return on investment,” says Susan Roman,<br />
PhD, dean of GSLIS, and the project administrator for the study.<br />
“This study definitively shows that summer reading programs play a<br />
significant role in preventing summer reading loss and that public<br />
libraries provide an important bridge between academic years. Based<br />
on the study’s findings, it is also clear that investing more resources in<br />
summer reading programs especially in economically depressed areas<br />
can contribute to closing the achievement gap that is plaguing our country.”<br />
Fall 2010 <strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> Magazine<br />
5
6<br />
FEATURE<br />
passion<br />
seminars<br />
Small classes<br />
dom.edu / magazine<br />
integrated g curriculum and learning g model<br />
Building a Distinctive Educational Experience<br />
academic opportunities<br />
pp<br />
academic opportunities<br />
opportunities<br />
curriculum mapping pp g<br />
sciplinary research<br />
Exce lence and Accountability<br />
WHILE CONSUMERS MAY TYPICALLY KNOW<br />
AND EVALUATE A PRODUCT<br />
ON THE BASIS OF<br />
A CLEVER COMMERCIAL OR ADVERTISING SLOGAN,<br />
AS ANY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT<br />
OR PARENT OF A HIGH SCHOOLER CAN ATTEST,<br />
THE “TRY IT, YOU’LL LIKE IT” FORMULA DOESN’T HOLD TRUE<br />
WHEN “SHOPPING” FOR THE RIGHT COLLEGE EXPERIENCE.<br />
HIGHER EDUCATION ISN’T SIMPLY<br />
A PRODUCT TO BE PURCHASED.<br />
A DEGREE ISN’T A RECEIPT.<br />
paired courrses
l<br />
y<br />
“THE<br />
OPPORTUNITIES<br />
FOR STUDENT<br />
RESEARCH<br />
AT THE<br />
UNDERGRADUATE<br />
AND GRADUATE<br />
LEVEL ARE<br />
EXTENSIVE AND<br />
IMPRESSIVE,<br />
INCLUDING<br />
INTERNATIONAL<br />
OPPORTUNITIES.”<br />
CHERYL JOHNSON-ODIM,<br />
PHD, PROVOST<br />
Excellent teaching is a key indicator of the <strong>Dominican</strong><br />
experience. Small classes taught by experienced<br />
faculty are considered a mark of academic quality<br />
and reputation for the university.<br />
While all organizations and institutions<br />
engage in regular assessment and<br />
evaluation – both formal and informal –<br />
to assure ongoing viability and relevance, how do<br />
you assess the value of a degree? What distinguishes<br />
a <strong>Dominican</strong> education from the many undergraduate<br />
and graduate school choices available?<br />
It’s a multifaceted and multilayered answer that<br />
rests within the defined markers of excellence and<br />
accountability, reflects Donna M. Carroll, president,<br />
<strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong>. Those markers of excellence<br />
and distinction are found throughout the university and<br />
to illustrate, she points to a number of <strong>Dominican</strong>’s<br />
most notable features including outstanding faculty,<br />
an integrated curriculum and learning model and<br />
respected external endorsements.<br />
Indeed, excellent teaching is a key indicator of the<br />
<strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> experience. Small classes<br />
taught by experienced faculty – 84 percent of<br />
whom have doctoral or other terminal degrees –<br />
are considered a mark of academic quality and<br />
reputation for the university.<br />
“Given multiple career paths and increasing access<br />
to divergent sources of knowledge, it is crucial to<br />
be an integrative thinker,” says Jeffrey Carlson, PhD,<br />
dean, Rosary College of Arts and Sciences.<br />
“A hallmark of a <strong>Dominican</strong> education is the capacity<br />
to connect the dots, to discern the big picture and<br />
one’s place within it – to stand somewhere and to<br />
stand for something. Our faculty builds relationships<br />
with students, helping them to find their passion<br />
for a particular field of study, to pursue research and<br />
creative investigations in depth,<br />
and to situate their learning<br />
and their living within broader<br />
contexts, guided by an ethically<br />
responsible vision. The undergraduate<br />
experience is one of<br />
discovery, whole-making, and<br />
deep personal commitment.”<br />
A key component of the<br />
university’s core curriculum is<br />
the liberal arts and science<br />
seminars – integrative courses<br />
that apply multiple perspectives<br />
to “big questions” that explore<br />
FEATURE<br />
through reading, writing and discussion on topics<br />
related to the dimensions of self, community and<br />
culture, virtues, values and more. While common<br />
in many universities at the freshman level, at<br />
<strong>Dominican</strong>, seminars are required courses for<br />
students each year.<br />
Another area where this integration occurs within<br />
the undergraduate curriculum is with paired<br />
courses where students study and explore subjects<br />
together from different disciplines. For instance,<br />
students can study medieval literature and medieval<br />
history together during the same semester.<br />
As an extension of the classroom teaching, <strong>Dominican</strong><br />
also offers a plethora of academic opportunities<br />
ranging from 17 study abroad opportunities,<br />
46 service learning classes and limitless opportunities<br />
for community service; and 36 funded undergraduate<br />
research experiences.<br />
“The opportunities for student research at the<br />
undergraduate and graduate level are extensive and<br />
impressive, including international opportunities,”<br />
Cheryl Johnson-Odim, PhD, provost, says.<br />
“We have particular strengths in collaborative<br />
research between faculty members and students,<br />
and in interdisciplinary research. <strong>Dominican</strong> is<br />
committed to increasing support for research and<br />
to becoming a regional leader, especially in<br />
undergraduate research.”<br />
Endorsements and recognition by external entities<br />
also play an important role for universities, and<br />
<strong>Dominican</strong> is no exception. Currently, the School<br />
of Education (SOE) is preparing for accreditation<br />
from the National Council for Accreditation of<br />
Teacher Education (NCATE) – considered the gold<br />
standard for education program accreditation. As a<br />
candidate for accreditation, the school is required<br />
to submit its programs for full review.<br />
To gain insights into the SOE curriculum, Colleen<br />
Reardon, EdD, dean, and the faculty are engaged in<br />
a process of curriculum mapping, which provides<br />
a way of looking at the curriculum to determine<br />
gaps, overlaps and overall cohesiveness. A process<br />
common at the K-12 level, curriculum mapping is<br />
still relatively new at the university level.<br />
Fall 2010 <strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> Magazine<br />
7
8<br />
FEATURE<br />
“The undergraduate experience<br />
is one of discovery, whole-making,<br />
and deep personal commitment,”<br />
says Jeffrey Carlson, PhD, dean,<br />
Rosary College of Arts and Sciences.<br />
“WE ENTICE<br />
STUDENTS<br />
TO FALL<br />
IN LOVE<br />
WITH DOMINICAN,<br />
BECOME<br />
DOMINICAN,<br />
AND THEN<br />
GIVE DOMINICAN<br />
AWAY TO OTHERS –<br />
FOR THE<br />
REST OF THEIR<br />
LIVES.”<br />
JEFFREY CARLSON, PHD,<br />
DEAN, ROSARY COLLEGE OF<br />
ARTS AND SCIENCES<br />
dom.edu / magazine<br />
“Curriculum mapping speaks to<br />
the thoroughness of processes<br />
and our work to improve<br />
programs,” Reardon explains.<br />
“We have developed a conceptual<br />
framework that states our mission,<br />
vision, philosophy, goals, and<br />
clearly identifies candidate<br />
proficiencies and dispositions.”<br />
Dispositions, the values,<br />
commitments and professional<br />
ethics that influence behaviors<br />
and affect student learning, as well<br />
as professional content knowledge<br />
and pedagogy are the focus of<br />
the School of Education’s assessment system.<br />
“The NCATE accreditation process provides the<br />
platform from which we can engage in discussions<br />
on continuous improvement,” Reardon says. “As<br />
we examine opportunities for improvement, we<br />
look to national policies and research on best practices<br />
in teacher education. The process has led to<br />
important discussions and insights helping us to<br />
build on our strengths and link theory with<br />
practical skills.”<br />
Within the School of Education, the breadth,<br />
depth and overall quality of the student programs,<br />
including opportunities for current teachers to<br />
expand their credentials through endorsements and<br />
certifications, are what set <strong>Dominican</strong> apart.<br />
Accreditation by national, regional and local<br />
accrediting organizations at the university level,<br />
as well as individual school or program level, is<br />
certainly an important mark of distinction and<br />
a public profession of excellence that faculty,<br />
students and the community at large look for when<br />
evaluating quality and are considered broadly as<br />
marks of distinction.<br />
In addition to accreditation by the Higher Learning<br />
Commission/North Central Association of<br />
Colleges and Schools (NCA), the Brennan School<br />
of Business is accredited by the Association of<br />
Collegiate Business Schools and Programs and is a<br />
candidate for accreditation by the Association to<br />
Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB);<br />
the Graduate School of Library and Information<br />
Science is accredited by the American Library<br />
Association; the Graduate School of Social Work is<br />
accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of<br />
the Council on Social Work Education; the<br />
university’s program in nutrition and dietetics has<br />
development accreditation from the Commission<br />
on Accreditation for Dietetics Education; and the<br />
university’s education programs are approved by<br />
the Illinois State Board of Education.<br />
“Accreditation creates a valuable opportunity for<br />
deep reflection about our academic programs and<br />
for examination of student learning outcomes.<br />
It is a peer review process that also allows us to<br />
benchmark programs, assess faculty needs, and<br />
evaluate auxiliary academic areas such as the<br />
library, classroom facilities and technology,<br />
among other things,” explains Johnson-Odim.<br />
As the university implements the Pathways to<br />
Distinction Strategic Plan (highlighted in the Spring<br />
2010 <strong>Dominican</strong> Magazine), it will identify centers of<br />
distinction and explore opportunities to expand to<br />
the undergraduate student population the practice<br />
of electronic portfolios. These portfolios permit<br />
students to accumulate and share the best pieces of<br />
their work. Graduate students in selected programs<br />
of the School of Education currently maintain<br />
personal e-portfolios with great success.<br />
“As our profession continues to expand with<br />
technology both in and out of the classroom,<br />
electronic portfolios give us greater flexibility to<br />
showcase our work,” says Frances Kraft, MAT ’10.<br />
When interviewing for a position this spring,<br />
Kraft chose to take a binder of her work to have<br />
a tangible collection to use in discussing her<br />
approach to various subjects. “I was able to go back<br />
to my Live Text portfolio and print selected lessons<br />
appropriate for the interview. Not only did it save<br />
me an enormous amount of time, I received great<br />
compliments on the design and organization of the<br />
printed pages.”<br />
While external accolades and the foundation for<br />
academic excellence convey an important component<br />
of the quality story, the university boasts a lengthy<br />
and impressive list of additional programs, statistics<br />
and curriculum highlights that together present the<br />
total package of selling points for students, families,<br />
the community, donors and employers.<br />
“We’ve structured our curriculum in ways that<br />
invite sustained exploration and integration,<br />
enhance students’ capacity to think for themselves,<br />
and motivate students to convert a university<br />
education into a gift of service to the world,”<br />
Carlson concludes. “We entice students to fall in<br />
love with <strong>Dominican</strong>, become <strong>Dominican</strong>, and<br />
then give <strong>Dominican</strong> away to others – for the<br />
rest of their lives. That is what we mean by<br />
‘Inspired Minds and Amazing Possibilities.’”
INTEGRATIVE SEMINARS – CRITICAL THINKING IN THE REAL WORLD<br />
For the past 30+ years, <strong>Dominican</strong>’s liberal arts and science seminars<br />
have been a central component of the university’s core curriculum,<br />
offering students opportunities to apply multiple perspectives to the<br />
“big” questions and integrate these perspectives into their learning<br />
and life experiences.<br />
“The seminars prepare students for real-world thinking about topics<br />
that require a variety of approaches and areas of knowledge,” says<br />
Jeffrey Carlson, PhD, dean, Rosary College of Arts and Science.<br />
“The seminars are the vertical spine of our liberal arts and sciences<br />
education, and they allow students to connect their majors with the<br />
core curriculum during all four years at <strong>Dominican</strong>.”<br />
While many schools offer similar courses and seminars as part of their<br />
curriculum, <strong>Dominican</strong> is relatively distinctive in requiring students to<br />
take seminar courses each year through to graduation. “Seminars help<br />
our students think multidimensionally. They are interesting and<br />
frustrating because just like in the real world, these big questions don’t<br />
have immediate answers,” says William George, PhD, director of the<br />
core curriculum and professor of theology. “It is a significant<br />
undertaking and commitment and many schools are amazed that we<br />
are able to provide such a comprehensive and rich seminar program.”<br />
Modeled in part on the yearly seminars that were a central component<br />
of the Rosary College Honors Program, the seminars evolved and<br />
expanded in breadth and depth, ultimately being integrated into the<br />
undergraduate’s core curriculum some 20 years ago.<br />
sem<br />
a r<br />
Accreditation by third-party organizations is a demonstration<br />
that the university meets acceptable levels of quality and<br />
competence, and that it meets the highest standards of<br />
achievement. Accreditation is a voluntary process and <strong>Dominican</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong> holds accreditations from the following organizations:<br />
• The North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools<br />
as a baccalaureate and master’s degree-granting institution.<br />
• The American Library Association for the Master of Library and<br />
Information Science program.<br />
• The Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs<br />
for the accounting and business administration programs in<br />
the Brennan School of Business.<br />
Seminars bring students and faculty together to collaborate in<br />
a distinctive way, George says, and this collaboration allows<br />
students and teachers to explore big questions and real-world<br />
problems from different perspectives and drawing on a range of<br />
academic disciplines.<br />
“Seminars allow students and teachers from all different backgrounds<br />
to bring their views, experiences and opinions to the table,” says George.<br />
“These kinds of questions and problems are rarely resolved without<br />
the contribution of several disciplines and various points of view.”<br />
The courses follow specific themes by class – Freshman: Dimensions<br />
of the Self; Sophomore: Community, Culture and Diversity; Junior:<br />
Technology, Work and Leisure; and Senior: Virtues and Values. Within<br />
each seminar series are numerous courses that students can choose<br />
from with titles as intriguing as “Facebook: Images of the Self as<br />
Friend,” “I Am My iPod,” “Lifesizing in an Era of Downsizing,<br />
Digitalizing and Fantasizing” and “Myths that Shape Our Lives.”<br />
“Seminars are the classes that make sense of all the other classes,”<br />
Carlson says. “They are practice sessions for the rest of our students’<br />
lives, as they think and live in relation to critical issues and questions,<br />
not merely as well-trained specialists in this or that narrow area,<br />
but as educated persons with an informed and ethically responsible<br />
personal stance.”<br />
“Education is a life-long learning experience,” George says,<br />
“and we are preparing students for life.”<br />
• The Commission on Accreditation of the Council on Social Work<br />
Education for the Graduate School of Social Work.<br />
• The Illinois State Board of Education.<br />
FEATURE<br />
ditation<br />
DOMINICAN ACCREDITATIONS – MEETING THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF QUALITY<br />
• The Illinois Department of Registration and Education, and the State<br />
Approving Agency for Veterans Affairs.<br />
• The program in nutrition and dietetics has development accreditation<br />
from the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education.<br />
<strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> is in the process of seeking accreditation from the<br />
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and the<br />
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).<br />
Fall 2010 <strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> Magazine<br />
9
10<br />
FEATURE<br />
A Life-Changing Enterprise<br />
No Business Plan Required<br />
Like many subjects, the study of microenterprise can be a<br />
one-dimensional exercise relegated to textbooks or research papers.<br />
Yet, turning the concepts into a life-changing, experiential learning tool<br />
takes just $25.<br />
This year, Brennan School of<br />
Business students launched Team<br />
Kiva, a group dedicated to using<br />
the power of microlending to<br />
fight global poverty. Through<br />
Kiva.org – the world’s first<br />
microlending website connecting<br />
entrepreneurs, microfinance<br />
organizations and individual<br />
lenders – in just the first six<br />
months, DU’s Team Kiva<br />
surpassed its first-year goal of<br />
$5,000 in loans, providing<br />
$13,900 in loans to date. At this<br />
level, DU’s team is on par with<br />
top lending universities such as<br />
Harvard, Yale, Northwestern and<br />
the <strong>University</strong> of Chicago.<br />
“Millions of people around the<br />
world can move out of poverty if<br />
they have access to money for<br />
starting or expanding their small<br />
business, however many people<br />
cannot apply for a loan because<br />
banks often do not service those<br />
without collateral or a credit<br />
history,” says Van Tang MSA ’10,<br />
Kiva organizer and former team<br />
captain. “With as little as $25<br />
and a few minutes on the<br />
Internet, you can have a global<br />
impact on poverty.” Currently,<br />
more than 50 students, faculty,<br />
staff and friends are members of<br />
the DU team.<br />
“Kiva works for several reasons,”<br />
Tang explains. “First, it is accessible.<br />
You don’t need a business plan,<br />
dom.edu / magazine<br />
you don’t need to travel, you<br />
don’t need start-up capital.<br />
“Second, it’s visible. <strong>Dominican</strong><br />
has a team lending page and<br />
though we’re a newer lending<br />
team, we’re growing at a faster<br />
pace that many other universities<br />
on Kiva.org. This is an easy way to<br />
promote the strength of our<br />
service-based mission,” Tang says.<br />
“I firmly believe we have one of<br />
the strongest commitments to<br />
service and ethical leadership<br />
among universities nationally.<br />
“Next, it is practical. Through<br />
the Kiva lending process, we are<br />
directly touching the lives of<br />
many families from countries<br />
around the world and alleviating<br />
global poverty.” Through<br />
microfinance institutions, loans<br />
are made directly to specific<br />
individuals, and Kiva has a<br />
repayment rate of 98 percent,<br />
usually within eight months.<br />
Once the loan is repaid, lenders<br />
can withdraw the full amount or<br />
use the credit to make another loan.<br />
“Finally, it’s educational. We<br />
learn about microfinance and<br />
the critiques of microfinance.<br />
We are coming up with new<br />
ideas to raise funds, what we<br />
can do after graduation in our<br />
professions and careers, and how<br />
we can help alleviate poverty or<br />
otherwise make the world a<br />
better place.”<br />
Team members have organized a<br />
number of campus and community<br />
events and opportunities to raise<br />
funds for lending, including tea<br />
kiosks, pizza parties and penny<br />
wars. All the money collected<br />
goes toward lending.<br />
And, the lending process<br />
couldn’t be simpler. Lenders log<br />
onto the website www.kiva.org/<br />
team/dominican_university<br />
and review the series of profiles<br />
of entrepreneurs requesting<br />
loans. With the support of<br />
microfinance partners, the<br />
funds are distributed to the<br />
entrepreneurs, with the loan<br />
repayments made within a year.<br />
To date, more than 460 loans<br />
have been made to entrepreneurs<br />
including a woman in Peru to<br />
start a wholesale cheese production<br />
business; a dressmaker in Nigeria<br />
to purchase material and lace; a<br />
woman in Palestine to open a<br />
natural medicines shop; a woman<br />
in Cambodia to purchase<br />
motorized vehicle to transport the<br />
fish her husband catches to the<br />
market where she sells the fish; a<br />
furniture maker in the Philippines<br />
to purchase materials; and to<br />
dozens of others around the world.<br />
“The Brennan School is committed<br />
to educating the next generation<br />
of ethical business leaders to<br />
have impact with integrity,” says<br />
Arvid Johnson, PhD, dean,<br />
Brennan School of Business.<br />
“As a result, we are incredibly<br />
proud of this student-driven<br />
initiative, which is not only<br />
providing much-needed<br />
assistance to deserving individuals<br />
but also doing it in a way that<br />
empowers those individuals to<br />
assume ownership of and<br />
responsibility for their lives –<br />
rather than creating an aid-based<br />
dependency. When we talk<br />
about the power of business –<br />
of commerce – for social good<br />
and its ability to provide<br />
long-term solutions to challenging<br />
social problems, this is exactly<br />
what we mean.”<br />
“<strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> has a<br />
long and strong tradition of<br />
service-based education and<br />
Team Kiva is helping further<br />
strengthen our school’s social<br />
impact and promotes our mission<br />
of service to the world,” Tang<br />
says. “I believe in the power of<br />
technology to connect people<br />
around the world for social good<br />
and the power of the individual<br />
to have a real impact on alleviating<br />
poverty. By fighting poverty, we<br />
empower people around the<br />
world to realize their full<br />
potential and co-create a<br />
peaceful, joyous and<br />
ever-improving world.”
In its first year, the <strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> Kiva team,<br />
including members (from left) Tony Crement, PhD,<br />
Justyna Kuczaj, Lowell Morrison MSCIS ’10, Van Tang<br />
MSA ’10, and Jorge Mota Andrade, provided more<br />
than $13,900 in loans, putting the team on par with<br />
such top lending universities as Harvard, Yale,<br />
Northwestern and the <strong>University</strong> of Chicago.<br />
PHOTO CREDIT<br />
John Briggs<br />
Eradicating Poverty<br />
Is No “Impossible Dream”<br />
By: Anthony Crement, PhD<br />
Half of the world’s population lives on $2 a day.<br />
In 2000, the United Nations identified cutting world poverty in half by 2015 as one<br />
of its millennial goals. The fact that the goal will not be met does not diminish the<br />
worthiness of the goal. There is no metaphysical reason for poverty. It is not preordained<br />
that there must be poor in the world. Sometimes I think that in our deep subconscious,<br />
we accept poverty as a given and do not fight aggressively to eliminate it.<br />
Kiva works because it attacks one of the core problems creating poverty – lack of credit.<br />
In his groundbreaking book Creating A World Without Poverty, Muhammad Yunus<br />
succinctly and eloquently defines the problem as follows: “...if you spend enough time<br />
living among the poor, you discover that their poverty arises from the fact that they<br />
cannot retain the genuine results for their labor. And the reason for this is clear; they<br />
have no control over capital.”<br />
Most poor people are not poor because they choose to be. Most are poor not because<br />
they lack the desire, skill or initiative to earn a better living. They are poor in no small part<br />
because, without credit, they can only earn a living by their physical toil and sweat.<br />
The lack of credit limits the poor’s ability to be more productive. For the poor food<br />
producer in Kenya, it is the difference between grinding corn by hand rather than<br />
mechanically, thus producing a small percentage of what might be produced with the<br />
proper tools. The lack of credit makes the difference for the woman in Cambodia raising<br />
one milk-producing goat rather than two or three in order to better support her family.<br />
The lack of credit for the poor also has many extended effects. Might a spouse of a<br />
laborer in Mexico need to stay in the family business rather than seek possibly better<br />
wages elsewhere? Would the children of a farmer in Peru be compelled to help on the<br />
family farm rather than go to school?<br />
A loan made through Kiva is not just paying for a corn grinder or a second or third goat.<br />
A loan through Kiva provides hope for a better life. Kiva affords people the opportunity<br />
to use their skills to reach self-sufficiency. Kiva loans provide opportunities for<br />
entrepreneurs, not handouts.<br />
To date in its relatively short history, Kiva has funded 362,800 entrepreneurs in 199<br />
countries. If we were to assume five family members for each entrepreneur, that means<br />
that more than 1.8 million people are at the very least closer to escaping the ravages of<br />
poverty. It means that somewhere a mother might be able to sleep tonight without knowing<br />
that her children are going to bed hungry. It means a man or woman might escape the<br />
pain of seeing a loved one not getting medical attention because it cannot be afforded.<br />
This is why Kiva is so important to me. Kiva allows me in some small way to join the effort<br />
to do away with poverty. If believing that we can eliminate poverty makes me a fool,<br />
it is a title I gladly accept.<br />
Tony Crement, PhD, is an adjunct assistant professor of business ethics<br />
in the Brennan School of Business.<br />
Fall 2010 <strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> Magazine
12<br />
FEATURE<br />
As the university’s first full-time, permanent<br />
archivist and special collections librarian,<br />
Steven Szegedi MLIS ’08, is committed to ensuring<br />
that materials are available and accessible to faculty,<br />
students, alumnae/i and the general public.<br />
PRESERVING HISTORY<br />
A Peek Inside the <strong>University</strong> Archives<br />
Along the second floor corridor of the Lewis Link, just outside the<br />
Rebecca Crown Library, is a fairly nondescript room – aside from the<br />
handful of library shelves along the back wall and a configuration of<br />
unmatched tables, it looks pretty much like the classroom it was<br />
originally intended to be.<br />
So what is it about this seemingly unremarkable destination that<br />
elicits comments such as “cool,” “amazing,” “awesome,” and<br />
“impressive”? Unbeknownst to many, tucked away on the shelves<br />
of the <strong>University</strong> Archives is an incredibly remarkable collection of<br />
treasures ranging from 13th century religious texts and a 16th century<br />
trial narrative from the Inquisition, to early American and Chicago<br />
historical documents. And, of course, the collection includes a<br />
wealth of photographs and memorabilia from the founding of<br />
Rosary College through today.<br />
As part of the Rebecca Crown Library, the <strong>University</strong> Archives is<br />
responsible for the acquisition and care of two quite distinct and<br />
diverse collections – Institutional Records, which includes documents,<br />
photographs, materials and records dating from 1910; and Special<br />
Collections, a smaller, though significant and impressive collection of<br />
materials either acquired by or donated to the university. And, a key<br />
feature that makes the collection so exciting<br />
is the fact that it is open to all.<br />
“Our priority is to make sure people are aware of the collections and<br />
ensure their accessibility,” says Steven Szegedi MLIS ’08, the new<br />
archivist and special collections librarian. “For study and research, it<br />
is important for faculty, students, and the general public to know<br />
what is available and have access to it, and for our alumnae/i to know<br />
that we are preserving their history. We often have three and four<br />
generations of families attending the university. Documenting that<br />
history is essential.”<br />
It’s an enormous endeavor to be sure.<br />
While the university has always maintained an archival presence both<br />
on campus and at the Sinsinawa Mound in Wisconsin, the inventory<br />
and cataloging of materials did not always received the priority<br />
attention it deserved due to limited staff and resources. “In many<br />
cases, it is a great mystery of how and when materials came to us,”<br />
Szegedi notes. When Bella Karr Gerlich, PhD, was named university<br />
librarian in 2008, she set out to change that, working closely with Sr.<br />
Jeanne Crapo, OP, (now university archivist emerita) to learn the<br />
history of the archives and what support was needed most.<br />
“Without Sr. Jeanne, there would be no archives,” Gerlich says.<br />
“Her care, dedication and promotion of the archives on campus<br />
enabled us to strategize for the future and hire a full-time librarian<br />
when she would decide to retire.” Upon her retirement in 2009,<br />
she launched a new project – writing the history of the university<br />
(See Passing Glances, back cover).<br />
As the university’s first full-time, permanent archivist and special<br />
collections librarian, Szegedi’s top priorities include researching the<br />
origins of the materials and conducting a comprehensive inventory<br />
and database, which entails creating records and a catalogue of<br />
everything so that it is easily and readily accessible. In addition,<br />
he is working with university departments to ensure that they<br />
“think archives” with their document retention practices.<br />
Szegedi is taking on the task of restoring and preserving materials<br />
himself, including this manuscript from 1575 entitled Le Cose Maravigliose<br />
di Roma offering commentaries on religious works and speeches.
All institutional records and special collections materials –<br />
even the fragile and delicate 14th and 15th century documents<br />
and Civil War collection – are available to faculty and students,<br />
as well as visitors to the archives for education and research. It’s<br />
this commitment on behalf of the library and the university that<br />
makes the collection so valuable – and not just monetarily. Much<br />
of the information can be accessed from the archives website at<br />
www.domweb.dom.edu/library/archives/archive.html.<br />
“There are two types of practice – one is to protect materials from the<br />
people, and the other is to protect materials for the people. Through<br />
the library and GSLIS, there is an active interest in the preservation<br />
and conservation courses and seeing the materials used. We make<br />
them available for people to enjoy,” says James Twomey, adjunct<br />
faculty member, Graduate School of Library and Information<br />
Sciences. Twomey – an expert in preserving and restoring antique<br />
books, documents and maps – has been teaching <strong>Dominican</strong><br />
graduate students in library science since 2004. Twomey is also<br />
working with the archivists at the Sinsinawa Mound in Wisconsin<br />
on preserving the many original volumes and records of Fr. Samuel<br />
Mazzuchelli, founder of the Sinsinawa <strong>Dominican</strong> Sisters.<br />
“<strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> has an amazing collection of materials,”<br />
Twomey says. “There are many first editions and representatives of<br />
every major printer demonstrating innovations in type, printing and<br />
illustration. So clearly there is a focus to the collection, and whoever<br />
purchased or acquired elements of the collection knew what<br />
he/she was doing.”<br />
In addition to the countless Rosary College/<strong>Dominican</strong> records and<br />
materials, some of the most prized materials in the archives include a<br />
a French, hand-written Christian journal from the late 1600s; personal<br />
letters written by Studs Terkel, Susan B. Anthony and Jefferson<br />
Davis; original testimony documents from the Spanish Inquisition;<br />
papal bulls and letters; a suffragette letter; Civil War-era documents<br />
and ephemera; and books on Irish personalities and Irish history.<br />
Though the inventory and cataloging process is an all-consuming<br />
task, under Twomey’s tutelage, Szegedi is also undertaking many of<br />
the restoration and preservation tasks himself. “The single most<br />
FEATURE<br />
important step in preservation and conservation is to make the paper<br />
stable, so our philosophy is to slow down, stop or reverse the aging<br />
process using safe chemicals to de-acidify the paper,” Twomey<br />
explains. “We then try to heal the problem, whether it is torn paper<br />
or separated pages, and then we create a protective box for the<br />
document or book.”<br />
Preserving history – in all its forms – is a priority not only for the<br />
archives and Rebecca Crown Library, but also within the Graduate<br />
School of Library and Information Science where students can pursue an<br />
emphasis in archival studies. In addition to preservation, conservation<br />
and archiving classes, <strong>Dominican</strong> is seeking to carve a niche for itself<br />
in the area of cultural heritage informatics, and in fact last spring,<br />
sponsored an archives and cultural heritage symposium for Chicagoarea<br />
archivists and cultural heritage specialists. According to Cecilia<br />
Salvatore, PhD, associate professor, and cultural heritage informatics<br />
scholar and researcher, GSLIS students are collaborating with museums<br />
and centers, including the national McGreal Center for <strong>Dominican</strong><br />
Historical Studies, located on the <strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> campus.<br />
“Our students can gain valuable practical experience working with<br />
organizations in assessing their cultural heritage collections, including<br />
recorded oral histories, museum and cultural artifacts, recorded<br />
performances and rituals, etc.,” Salvatore says. “The collaboration has<br />
been a fruitful and positive experience for all.” Salvatore recently<br />
received the Parsons Fund Award from the American Folklife<br />
Center of the Library of Congress to support her work to identify<br />
and evaluate the library’s institutionwide assets pertaining to the<br />
culture and history of Micronesia. In addition, Salvatore is a project<br />
consultant on behalf of the Institute of Museum and Library Studies<br />
working with the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in<br />
the South Pacific, assessing their cultural heritage collections.<br />
Working together with the expert faculty and with the assistance of<br />
several volunteer workers, Szegedi’s sights are focused on achieving<br />
the ultimate goals of accessibility and awareness. “Our job is to create<br />
tools to ensure that these amazing materials are available to everyone<br />
for generations to come.”<br />
Fall 2010 <strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> Magazine<br />
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14<br />
FEATURE<br />
dom.edu / magazine<br />
Aristotle and Aikido:<br />
VIRTUE<br />
IN<br />
ACTION<br />
True wisdom comes from intellectual education, physical education,<br />
ethical education, and ki (energy) education.<br />
– O Sensei (Morihei Ueshiba, The Founder of Aikido)
On Tuesdays, Professor Dianne Costanzo, PhD, guides her<br />
students in exploring theories of virtue and happiness, and she<br />
leads intriguing discussions on choices of good and evil, challenging<br />
the students to contemplate ways of being their best selves.<br />
On Thursdays, Costanzo Sensei puts those theories of virtue, choice<br />
and contemplation into action as her students kneel side by side<br />
listening, observing and repeating the lessons of aikido – “the art<br />
of peace.” In her senior seminar entitled “Aikido as Contemplation”<br />
Costanzo applies the Japanese martial art and the texts of Aristotle to<br />
guide students in understanding virtue and what it means to be a<br />
virtuous, noble person, and how choices contribute to who we are in<br />
the world.<br />
“Aikido is a form of self-defense that teaches a unity of mind and<br />
body,” Costanzo says. “With aikido, the body informs the mind and<br />
vice versa, and the lessons learned are about being the best we can<br />
be. Aristotle says that virtue and happiness are in accordance, so in<br />
our seminar we learn how to put theoretical learning into our bodies<br />
to achieve holistic learning of mind, body and spirit.”<br />
A trained spiritual director with a master’s degree in spirituality,<br />
a doctorate in literature, and a fourth-degree black belt in aikido,<br />
Costanzo is uniquely qualified to lead the seminar. A member of the<br />
<strong>Dominican</strong> faculty since 1997, Costanzo has taught in Oak Park since<br />
2000 and earned the title “Sensei” in 2002. In 2009, she opened her<br />
own dojo (school) in Oak Park.<br />
Literally translated, aikido means “the way of harmony through<br />
energy,” and unlike other martial arts of karate or tae kwon do,<br />
there are no competitions, contests or trophies, nor does it involve<br />
strikes or kicks, but rather uses dynamic movement, throws and<br />
joint locks to achieve nonviolent resolution to conflict.<br />
“Aikido is about achieving self-realization and transcending the ego,<br />
so in our lessons we learn how to fall and roll,” Costanzo says.<br />
“If you fall down seven times, you get up eight times. The lesson<br />
here is that we all fall and we all fail, but we don’t want to stay in<br />
failure. We learn to get up from a fall and to recover from failure.”<br />
Through aikido and the study of Aristotle, students learn the importance<br />
of living and being in the present, rather than being trapped in the<br />
past or forecasting to the future. “In life, we are always choosing,”<br />
Costanzo says. “We choose how to act and we can choose to do good<br />
or not. My goal is to have students come away from the class with a<br />
clear understanding of their choices and way of being in the world.”<br />
FEATURE<br />
“I never imagined that in six weeks a class could change me so<br />
much,” says Estefania Alberttis, an education and Spanish studies<br />
major. “The new perspective gained from studying Aristotle and<br />
aikido together has led me to truly become conscious of what it<br />
means to be good and lead a happy life. Now that I have taken this<br />
class, I have a responsibility to act and not just wish things would<br />
happen. If I want our community to be better, I need to make it<br />
happen and not wait for someone else to do it.”<br />
“Both aikido and Aristotle require a lot of thinking and really using<br />
your brain,” says Shannon Perry, a food science major. “Professor<br />
Costanzo expects great things from us and she expects participation<br />
because you can’t learn anything by just sitting there. We don’t have<br />
to be good at it, we just have to be willing to show up at the mat and<br />
try.” Because Perry values the discipline so much, she signed on to<br />
continue studying aikido for an additional 12 months.<br />
Indeed, aikido is a martial art that is practiced into old age, so for<br />
Costanzo’s seminar the only requirement is an openness and<br />
willingness to try, and to participate both in the discussion and at the<br />
mat. “If you hold people to be the best they can be, most times they<br />
rise to the occasion. It is up to the student to say ‘yes’ or ‘no,’”<br />
Costanzo says.<br />
While the seminars are a distinctive element of the <strong>Dominican</strong><br />
curriculum (see sidebar article on page 9), the “Aikido as<br />
Contemplation” seminar is an especially unique offering.<br />
“The seminars are a beautiful place for faculty to be creative,”<br />
Costanzo says. “Wonderful things are happening in the seminars.”<br />
“The seminars are more about life lessons than anything else; they teach<br />
us to be better individuals and take responsibility for our small part of<br />
the world,” Alberttis concludes. “They open our eyes to issues that we<br />
may not encounter in our daily lives and force us to embrace what it<br />
really means to be part of a <strong>Dominican</strong>, Catholic community.”<br />
Dianne Costanzo, PhD<br />
Fall 2010 <strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> Magazine<br />
15
16<br />
FEATURE<br />
dom.edu / magazine<br />
MUSIC+<br />
STUDY AT THE CROSSROADS OF<br />
RACE
While the experience officially<br />
begins in the classroom with<br />
assigned readings and lectures,<br />
the real learning takes place<br />
during the five-day excursion<br />
down historic Highway 61 from<br />
Memphis to the Mississippi<br />
Delta. From the moment the<br />
dozen or so students exit the<br />
Memphis airport, they are<br />
immersed in a carefully scripted<br />
journey weaving culture, history,<br />
legend and mystery into an<br />
unforgettable educational<br />
adventure entitled “Down at the<br />
Crossroads: The Musical and<br />
Racial Heritage of Memphis and<br />
the Mississippi Delta.”<br />
During the five-day excursion, Professor Monti and<br />
her students visit “Sunshine” Sonny Payne who hosts<br />
the blues radio program King Biscuit Time on KFFA<br />
radio in Helena, Arkansas.<br />
Since 2004, Janice Monti, PhD,<br />
professor of sociology and<br />
department chair of sociology<br />
and criminology, has led the<br />
course, which integrates themes<br />
of race, civil rights and the<br />
musical legacy of the South. It’s<br />
education steeped in experience.<br />
“Most students are crazy about<br />
music, yet most are unfamiliar<br />
with the African-American<br />
heritage that is the backbone of<br />
American popular music,” she says.<br />
The first stop on the trip is the<br />
National Civil Rights Museum<br />
located at the Lorraine Motel in<br />
Memphis where Martin Luther<br />
King Jr. was assassinated. “It’s one<br />
of the most wonderful museums<br />
and it sets the tone for the<br />
rest of the trip,” Monti says.<br />
“Experience is one of the best<br />
ways for students to get the<br />
concepts and information<br />
presented in the classroom.<br />
While they have heard about<br />
Martin Luther King Jr. and the<br />
civil rights movement, in order<br />
to fully understand race and civil<br />
rights in our country you need<br />
to connect to the musical<br />
heritage of the South. When you<br />
look at the history of blues and<br />
gospel music you are talking<br />
about the very themes that<br />
underscore the racial legacy of<br />
the United States.”<br />
Following the<br />
National<br />
Civil Rights<br />
Museum is an<br />
orchestrated<br />
sequence of<br />
visits to the<br />
Stax Museum<br />
of American<br />
Soul Music<br />
and the<br />
Soulsville<br />
neighborhood<br />
of Memphis;<br />
and a<br />
journey down<br />
Highway 61 to the Mississippi<br />
Delta, using the life and times of<br />
historic blues musician Robert<br />
Johnson – whose life and<br />
untimely death were shrouded<br />
in mystery – as a metaphor for<br />
the experience. A certified<br />
ethnographer leads the trip<br />
alongside Professor Monti.<br />
In Money, MS, the group visits<br />
the important sites linked to the<br />
birth of the civil rights movement<br />
such as the Bryant Grocery Store<br />
where Emmet Till reportedly<br />
whistled at a young girl, leading<br />
to his murder, and Tallahatchie<br />
River where his body was<br />
discovered. The students spend<br />
the night in sharecropper shacks<br />
and travel to former cotton<br />
plantations, gravesites, and the<br />
legendary crossroads where<br />
Robert Johnson allegedly sold<br />
his soul to the devil in exchange<br />
for extraordinary musical talent.<br />
For sophomore Jeremy Porter,<br />
the trip was especially profound<br />
since his family roots extend to<br />
Memphis and Clarksdale, MS.<br />
“My grandfather worked in the<br />
cotton fields of Clarksdale, and<br />
staying in the shacks was very<br />
emotional because I thought<br />
possibly my family could have<br />
lived in those same shacks,”<br />
Porter recalls. “It was hard<br />
because it wasn’t a livable<br />
place in my eyes.”<br />
“The historical and racial<br />
memory for the students is quite<br />
profound,” Monti says. “While<br />
they know vaguely about that<br />
history, what they hadn’t<br />
realized is that the Delta<br />
counties of Mississippi rank the<br />
lowest in health, education and<br />
quality of life issues, and are<br />
among the poorest in the United<br />
States. At this point of the<br />
course, we confront that legacy<br />
and the reasons why it is still the<br />
case today. In total, it is a<br />
revelation to the students<br />
because we don’t visit the typical<br />
tourist destinations.”<br />
“Seeing the way people live was<br />
amazing,” says Cecilia Tobias<br />
’10. “It is America’s third-world<br />
country and it’s right below our<br />
feet. I had never been down south<br />
before and having the ability to<br />
immerse yourself in an area you’re<br />
not familiar with was important<br />
because now I have an idea of<br />
what people are living through.”<br />
“I believe we may be the only<br />
school to offer a course such as<br />
this for credit,” Monti concludes.<br />
“There are many profound<br />
unintended consequences for<br />
students because it really<br />
expands their view of the world.<br />
It is quite powerful.”<br />
FEATURE<br />
BLUES AND THE SPIRIT II<br />
SYMPOSIUM<br />
A sold-out crowd of music and<br />
history scholars and fans<br />
attended the Blues and the<br />
Spirit II Symposium on Chicago<br />
Blues and Gospel Music, June<br />
9-10 on the <strong>Dominican</strong><br />
campus. The event,<br />
commemorating the<br />
centennial of Howlin’ Wolf’s<br />
birth, as well as the 40th<br />
anniversary of Living Blues<br />
magazine, included keynote<br />
addresses by Chuck D,<br />
co-founder of seminal rap<br />
group Public Enemy and one<br />
of Rolling Stone magazine’s<br />
“50 Most Important Performers<br />
in Rock & Roll History”; award<br />
presentations to Barry Dolins,<br />
deputy director of the Mayor’s<br />
Office of Special Events and<br />
the catalyst for Chicago’s blues<br />
and gospel festivals, and<br />
Howlin’ Wolf’s daughters,<br />
Bettye Kelly and Barbra Marks;<br />
and a thrilling pro jam<br />
featuring the surviving<br />
sidemen of legendary blues<br />
musicians Muddy Waters,<br />
Willie Dixon and Howlin’ Wolf,<br />
and renowned musicians from<br />
the current Chicago blues<br />
scene. The symposium<br />
concluded with a pro jam with<br />
some of the original Howlin’<br />
Wolf sidemen and an afterparty<br />
at Rosa’s Lounge.
18<br />
FEATURE<br />
Many a bibliophile has dreamed of opening up a<br />
bookshop and spending days on end reading<br />
the latest books and making recommendations<br />
to customers. Yet, as August Aleksy Jr.<br />
MBA ’84, explains, there is a lot more to running a<br />
bookstore than enjoying reading. “Bookselling is not a<br />
job and it’s not a career,” he says. “It’s a profession and<br />
a vocation. It’s a lifestyle.”<br />
“People may think that<br />
when you own your own<br />
business, you don’t have<br />
a boss, but in reality every<br />
customer is your boss.”<br />
dom.edu / magazine<br />
This year, Aleksy, owner of Centuries and Sleuths bookstore<br />
in Forest Park, IL, celebrates his store’s 20th anniversary –<br />
a venture he started shortly after receiving his MBA from<br />
Rosary College/<strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong>. While pursuing his<br />
MBA degree, Aleksy worked at a savings and loan bank,<br />
and when he found himself out of a job a few years later, he<br />
needed to figure his next steps. With an additional master’s<br />
degree in history and a passion for reading, Aleksy toyed<br />
with the idea of opening up a bookstore that would sell<br />
history, mystery and biography books.<br />
With the knowledge and confidence<br />
gained from the university’s Brennan<br />
School of Business (BSB), he set out to<br />
research and plan for the bookstore.<br />
“My MBA studies put the whole package<br />
together for me,” Aleksy explains. “I had<br />
learned how to make a business plan in<br />
several classes, I had experience doing a<br />
satisfaction survey, and I could apply statistics to the survey<br />
to find out if I was on target.”<br />
He started by sending a questionnaire to 3,000 homes in<br />
Oak Park and River Forest to find out what type of books<br />
people bought and read. The survey results showed that<br />
history, mystery and biography were some of the top genres<br />
of books that people bought. “I was interested in those<br />
topics but also those genres were what I felt I could do best<br />
with if I opened a shop,” Aleksy recalls.<br />
So in 1990, Aleksy opened Centuries and Sleuths in Oak<br />
Park, and then in 2000, relocated to Madison Street in Forest<br />
Park. Intent on continuing to provide a unique experience,<br />
Aleksy paid special attention to the store’s aesthetics and<br />
environment. Instead of the white walls and fluorescent<br />
lighting of the big box bookstores, he opted for soft lighting,<br />
dark wood bookshelves, kelly green painted walls, and red<br />
and green plaid carpeting. The open floor plan provides<br />
ample space to move around, and a sitting area with rocking<br />
chairs and an old church pew provides a space for quiet<br />
reading, while contributing to the store’s overall relaxed feel.<br />
ALUMNAE/ I SPOTLIGHT<br />
Because Aleksy believes that much about running a successful<br />
business is built on relationships, he hosts regular mystery<br />
and history discussion groups, several author talks throughout<br />
the year, and “Meeting of the Minds” events where<br />
volunteers play the roles of historical characters and are<br />
interviewed in front of an audience. “The personal touch<br />
is so essential in business,” he says. “While you have to be<br />
driven and committed in business, you also have to address<br />
the human element. People remember how you treat them.”<br />
Aleksy frequently recommends books to his customers, and<br />
in turn his loyal customers purchase their books from him.<br />
“I have several customers who, when they see a mystery<br />
book they like at a chain bookstore, write down the ISBN<br />
number and bring it in to my shop to buy the book,” he says.<br />
With the influx of chain bookstores, online booksellers and<br />
eReaders, Centuries and Sleuths is one of the few remaining<br />
independent bookshops – which presents both challenges<br />
and benefits. “It has gotten easier over the years,” Aleksy<br />
explains. “After so many years, I have developed a track<br />
record and I have a good reputation.” And, because this is<br />
one of the few remaining history and mystery bookshops<br />
in the area, he attracts a niche audience. “I definitely think<br />
I would have been out of business in a couple years if I had<br />
opened a general bookstore,” he says.<br />
When his business faced serious challenges at its original<br />
Oak Park location, Aleksy turned to <strong>Dominican</strong> for some<br />
assistance. “While the spot in Oak Park was what I could<br />
afford at the time, I needed more foot traffic,” he says. “I<br />
decided that I was either going to have to close or move to<br />
a site with more foot traffic.” So, he worked with a BSB<br />
business management class and the students created a<br />
business plan for the store, which supported his ideas about<br />
moving to a new location.<br />
While the business school’s focus on entrepreneurship has<br />
grown and expanded substantially in the years since Aleksy<br />
completed his degree, the firsthand experience of running<br />
his own business and experiencing important bumps and<br />
turns in the road, has been invaluable. “People may think<br />
that when you own your own business, you don’t have a<br />
boss, but in reality every customer is your boss,” Aleksy<br />
says. “In order to be successful, you have to look at the<br />
market and ask yourself the hard questions of ‘What do I<br />
offer that is different’ and ‘What can I do better than what<br />
is already being done?’<br />
“When I look back at my original business plan, a lot of the<br />
things that I dreamed about in the business plan actually<br />
came to fruition,” he says. Clearly, Aleksy’s strong business<br />
plan brought his dreams to life.
August<br />
Aleksy Jr.<br />
Owner, Centuries and Sleuths bookstore<br />
FEATURE<br />
19
dom.edu / magazine<br />
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT<br />
Adrian Kok, PhD<br />
Graduate School of Social Work
Concepts in Successful Aging<br />
As a child, Adrian Kok learned a lot about how to live a successful and fulfilling life from his<br />
grandmother. While his parents were working, his grandmother watched him and taught him<br />
many life lessons, which he hasn’t forgotten to this day.<br />
“I am inspired by her zest for life, her generosity, her forgiving<br />
nature, her optimism, and her belief that there is always a solution to<br />
every problem,” Kok says. “These are qualities that I have found to<br />
be important in order to be successful. She showed me that life could<br />
be lived fully with very few material things and, more importantly,<br />
she showed me what successful aging meant.”<br />
Kok, associate professor in the Graduate School of Social Work, is<br />
now instilling some of these lessons in social work students who plan<br />
to serve the aging population. Kok leads <strong>Dominican</strong>’s new gerontology<br />
certificate program, which is funded through a grant from the Council<br />
on Social Work Education’s National Center for Gerontological<br />
Social Work Education. In order to receive the certificate, students<br />
in the master’s of social work program take foundational courses that<br />
have an emphasis in gerontology in addition to interning at several<br />
aging agencies.<br />
Mark Rodgers, PhD, dean, Graduate School of Social Work, explains<br />
that students in the gerontology certificate program are well trained<br />
to work with this ever-growing population. “The Baby Boomer<br />
generation is retiring and the social work profession is not prepared<br />
to meet the needs of the elderly. By 2015, it is estimated that 70,000<br />
trained gerontology social workers are going to be necessary,” Rodgers<br />
explains. “The certificate program positions our students to not only<br />
have an MSW degree but also have this designated certificate. It will<br />
give them a leg up since they will have already completed internships<br />
in the field of gerontology.”<br />
As the Baby Boomer generation ages, Kok is hopeful that more<br />
gerontology related jobs will be created and that the salary for these<br />
jobs will increase. “Baby Boomers are going to demand more<br />
independence and better care as they age,” he says.<br />
While the opportunities are great, one of the biggest challenges is<br />
getting students interested in gerontology. “While students love to<br />
work with families and children, we have grants to provide stipends<br />
to students working in agencies for the aging. So, there is an<br />
incentive to try it out and gain important experience.”<br />
RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT<br />
FEATURE<br />
Students in the certificate program work at several different types<br />
of agencies such as nursing homes, retirement communities, hospice<br />
facilities, hospitals and government agencies, so that they can get<br />
experience in a wide range of options. In the classroom, the students<br />
take the required 20 social work courses, however 10 of the<br />
foundation courses are infused with gerontology. In addition,<br />
students who already have their MSW can complete a four-course<br />
program to receive a certificate in aging.<br />
Because of Kok’s research and experience, <strong>Dominican</strong>’s certificate<br />
program has an emphasis on ways to use technology with older<br />
adults. In addition, there is a great deal of advocacy work that social<br />
workers can do on behalf of the elderly. Issues such as working rights,<br />
ageism, community involvement and public policy are all ways for<br />
gerontology-trained social workers to be involved.<br />
“There is a great need to train social workers to pay attention to the<br />
needs of older adults. We strive to help students understand these<br />
needs from the micro level, or one-to-one relationships, to the macro<br />
level, such as political advocacy issues,” Kok says.<br />
For his accomplishments in the classroom and his work in the<br />
gerontology program, Kok was recently honored with the Graduate<br />
School of Social Work’s Excellence in Teaching Award.<br />
“His students always find him to be a very organized teacher and a<br />
professor who is enthusiastic about the sometimes difficult subject of<br />
social work research,” Rodgers says. “He uses a lot of creativity in the<br />
classroom, and his classes are very interactive and interesting. He is<br />
effective at conveying the practical applications of what the students<br />
are learning.”<br />
With gerontology, Kok has found that when students have personal<br />
experiences with older adults in their lives, they are more able to<br />
understand the curriculum. In accepting his recent award, Kok<br />
encouraged students to ignore the cell phones and computers and<br />
spend more time talking with their elders. “Your relationships with<br />
older adults give you an important perspective – they humanize your<br />
own aging and deepen your empathy. And, you just might be able<br />
to see the greater good in the things that you do.”<br />
Fall 2010 <strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> Magazine<br />
21 17
22<br />
FACULTY BRIEFS<br />
dom.edu / magazine<br />
Office of the Provost<br />
Cheryl Johnson-Odim, provost and vice president for<br />
academic affairs, was elected to the board of trustees of<br />
the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central<br />
Association. (See page 2 for additional information.) She<br />
continues in her second year of service on the board of<br />
visitors of the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences of<br />
Northwestern <strong>University</strong>.<br />
David H. Krause, associate provost and associate vice<br />
president for academic affairs and professor of English,<br />
has been elected to the board of directors of the Ernest<br />
Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park.<br />
Rosary College of Arts and Sciences<br />
Noelle Allen, professor of sculpture, was recently included<br />
in the 2010 Art Chicago exhibition, represented by David<br />
Weinberg Gallery.<br />
Daniela Andrei, assistant professor of chemistry, and her<br />
students gave a poster presentation on the results of their<br />
research at the 239th American Chemical Society National<br />
Meeting and Exposition in San Francisco, CA. They also<br />
presented their work at the Associated Colleges of the Chicago<br />
Area (ACCA) Student Symposium in April at Lewis <strong>University</strong>.<br />
Laura J. Burch, assistant professor of French, was awarded a<br />
Faculty Development Summer Research Grant from<br />
<strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> and a 2010 Edouard Morot-Sir<br />
Fellowship in Literature from the Institut Français d’Amérique.<br />
Both will support a research project to be conducted in the<br />
Bibliothéque nationale de France on the frontispieces of<br />
Madeleine de Scudéry’s Conversations (1680-1692). She also<br />
presented a paper titled, “Practically Speaking: The Place of<br />
Friendship in Madeleine de Scudéry’s Conversations,” at the<br />
Society for French Studies Annual Conference at the<br />
<strong>University</strong> of Swansea in Wales in July.<br />
Jennifer C. Dunn, assistant professor of rhetoric and<br />
communication, presented the paper, “‘Fat’ as Unhealthy,<br />
Asexual, and Abnormal: Rhetorical Constructions of the Body<br />
on The Biggest Loser” at the Central States Communication<br />
Association (CSCA) annual conference in Cincinnati, OH.<br />
Dunn also served this past year as the secretary of the<br />
Media Studies Interest Group for CSCA and became the<br />
vice president of the group at the conference this year.<br />
Dunn was also awarded a <strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> Faculty<br />
Development Research Grant for 2009-2010.<br />
J. Brent Friesen, associate professor of chemistry,<br />
co-authored the article “Occurrence of Progesterone and<br />
Related Animal Steroids in Two Higher Plants,” which<br />
appeared in the Journal of Natural Products.<br />
Bella Karr Gerlich, university librarian, was elected as<br />
member-at-large, Human Resources Section, LLAMA/ALA and<br />
member-at-large, Library Research Roundtable, ALA. She was<br />
an invited speaker at Lyrasis Reference REFolution Conference<br />
in April. Gerlich also presented “The READ Scale (Reference<br />
Effort Assessment Data): Qualitative Statistics for Recording<br />
Reference Effort, Skill, Knowledge and Teaching”at the 2nd<br />
Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries International<br />
Conference (QQML 2010) in Chania, Crete, Greece.<br />
Rosalind Hays, professor emerita of history, spent eight<br />
weeks during the spring semester researching 16th and<br />
17th century English popular culture in the Wiltshire and<br />
Swindown History Centre (Chippenham, Wiltshire, United<br />
Kingdom). Her trip was partly funded by a <strong>Dominican</strong><br />
Academic Year Research Assistance grant.<br />
Kathy Heskin, associate professor of pastoral ministry and<br />
director of pastoral ministry and the master’s in leadership<br />
for family ministry program, was a keynote speaker at the<br />
National Canadian Marriage Conference in Saskatoon. The<br />
speech was entitled “Paschal Mystery in Marriage.”<br />
Rogelia Lily Ibarra, assistant professor of Spanish, presented<br />
a paper titled, “Spanish Orientalism and the Negotiation of<br />
Racial Tensions in Insolación,” at the 63rd Annual Kentucky<br />
Foreign Language Conference at the <strong>University</strong> of Kentucky in<br />
April. She also presented “Re-writing History in Gertrudis<br />
Gómez de Avellaneda’s Guatimozín” at the 51st Annual<br />
Convention of the Midwest Modern Language Association in<br />
St. Louis, MO, in November.<br />
Bill Jenkins, assistant professor of theatre arts, attended<br />
the second fully staged professional production of his<br />
play, Hearts Full of Tears, in Appleton, WI, in May, and<br />
participated in talk-back sessions afterward. The play<br />
deals with the deep emotional upheaval of a family whose<br />
son is shot and killed. He debated a Chicago gun advocate<br />
on the topic “Should People in Chicago be Allowed to<br />
Carry Handguns?” at the College of Complexes in Chicago<br />
in June. He also served as a guest speaker at the Illinois<br />
Victim Assistance Academy in Bloomington, IL. Jenkins<br />
was an advisor to the Lookingglass Theatre’s production of<br />
Trust by David Schwimmer and served on an after-show<br />
panel of experts addressing the topic “What Happens<br />
Now? Knowing Your Rights as a Survivor.”<br />
Hugh McElwain, professor of theology and chair of<br />
theology and pastoral ministry, wrote the chapter<br />
“Teilhard and John Stewart: A Metaphysics of the Future”<br />
in the just-published work, Rediscovering Teilhard’s Fire,<br />
published by Saint Joseph’s <strong>University</strong> Press, 2010.<br />
Nkuzi Nnam, professor of philosophy and director of black<br />
world studies, chaired a panel entitled “The Rebels that<br />
Live Among Us: Religion, Rebels, and Resistance in the<br />
New World and Africa” at the 34th Annual Conference of<br />
the National Council for Black Studies held in New Orleans<br />
in March. He also presented a paper on Igbo religion and<br />
traditional medicine at the 8th Annual Conference of Igbo<br />
Studies Association, held at Howard <strong>University</strong> Law School<br />
campus in Washington, D.C., in April.<br />
Jeannine Potter, adjunct faculty in dance, participated in<br />
Dance Chicago in November and performed at the World<br />
Dance Alliance-Americas conference as part of Valerie<br />
Alpert Dance Company (VADC) in May.<br />
Valerie Rangel, adjunct professor in fashion design, recently<br />
presented a research paper titled “Archigram: Tailoring the<br />
Future” under the studio art open session at the College Art<br />
Association (CAA) Annual Conference held in Chicago in February.<br />
Susan M. Strawn, associate professor of apparel design<br />
and merchandising, was elected to the regional board of<br />
the Costume Society of America (CSA) and served as<br />
abstracts editor for the annual CSA national meeting in<br />
Kansas City. She also serves on the editorial advisory<br />
board and is a regular contributor of articles and design<br />
for PieceWork, a periodical that features historical and<br />
ethnographic textiles.<br />
Kim S. Theriault, assistant professor of art history,<br />
delivered a lecture on Arshile Gorky at the <strong>University</strong> of<br />
London and the <strong>University</strong> of Oxford. She also delivered a<br />
lecture at the <strong>University</strong> of California, Los Angeles, in May<br />
as well as in Nashville as part of Martyr’s Day Celebration.<br />
Theriault also spoke on Gorky at the Los Angeles County<br />
Museum of Art and the Library of Congress in September.
Tonia Bernardi Triggiano, assistant professor of Italian,<br />
delivered a paper titled “Dante’s Heavenly Lessons:<br />
Educative Economy in the Paradiso” at the Illinois Medieval<br />
Association/Medieval Association of the Midwest<br />
Conference hosted at <strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> in February.<br />
Marion Weedermann, associate professor of mathematics,<br />
gave a presentation titled “Qualitative Analysis of Models<br />
for Anaerobic Digestion Including Syntrophic Interactions”<br />
at the Joint Mathematics Meeting in San Francisco, CA, in<br />
January. She also presented “Modeling of Multiple-Stage<br />
Anaerobic Biochemical Processes” at the Elmhurst College<br />
Mathematics Seminar in March.<br />
Clodagh Weldon, associate professor of theology, was<br />
named a 2010 Visiting Research Scholar at Blackfriars Hall,<br />
<strong>University</strong> of Oxford, for Trinity term (April 25 to June 19).<br />
Weldon, an alumna of the <strong>University</strong> of Oxford and the<br />
author of Father Victor White, O.P.: The Story of Jung’s<br />
White Raven, is working on the unpublished papers of<br />
English <strong>Dominican</strong> Victor White, OP<br />
Fr. Richard Woods, OP, professor of theology and Lund-Gill<br />
Chair for 2009-10, wrote an article titled “Hope Rises in El<br />
Salvador,” which was published in Doctrine and Life in<br />
April. Last fall, he joined the <strong>Dominican</strong> Associates at<br />
Sinsinawa to present two talks on “Contemplation and Our<br />
Story” and he presented a six-hour seminar titled “Staying<br />
Alive: Attending to Wellness as a Minister” for the Pastoral<br />
Center of the Diocese of Joliet in Romeoville, IL. In March,<br />
Woods presented a lecture titled “The Music of What<br />
Happens: The Irish Harp in Myth and Neuroscience” at<br />
The Joan and Bill Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual<br />
Heritage at Loyola <strong>University</strong>.<br />
Brennan School of Business<br />
David Aron, associate professor of marketing, co-authored an<br />
article titled “Social Justice and Ethics in Business: Oxymoron<br />
or Creativity?” with Elizabeth Collier, assistant professor of<br />
ethics, Brennan School of Business, which was presented<br />
at the Claiming Creativity: Art Education in Cultural<br />
Transition conference in April in Chicago. He also co-authored<br />
“Approaches to Enhancing Student Engagement Through<br />
Client-based Service Learning,” which was presented at the<br />
AMS/ACRA 2009 Fall Retailing Conference in New Orleans, LA.<br />
Peter Alonzi, professor of economics, co-authored the<br />
paper “The Global Economic Crisis and Interdisciplinary<br />
Business Education” with Robert Irons, assistant<br />
professor of finance and quantitative methods, and Khalid<br />
Razaki, professor of accounting. It was presented in<br />
February at the American Society of Business and<br />
Behavioral Sciences in Las Vegas, NV, and was published<br />
in the Spring 2010 issue of the Journal of Business and<br />
Behavioral Sciences. The three also co-authored<br />
“Asymmetric Information, Moral Hazard, and Agency<br />
Problems in Bank Lending,” which was published in the<br />
journal Financial Decisions.<br />
Dan Condon, professor of economics, wrote an article<br />
entitled “The Price of Religious Participation: An Economic<br />
Model of Contributions,” which was published in the<br />
Journal of Applied Business and Economics (Winter 2010).<br />
He also wrote “Religious Contributions: A Normal Good?”<br />
which was published in the Proceedings of the National<br />
Business and Economics Society (March 2010).<br />
FACULTY BRIEFS<br />
Arvid C. Johnson, dean and professor of management,<br />
was elected president of the Midwest Decision Sciences<br />
Institute at its annual meeting in April in Toledo, OH. While<br />
attending that meeting, he presented “Carbon Taxes<br />
Versus Cap-and-Trade: What Will Really Work” with Carol<br />
Tallarico, associate professor of economics. Johnson and<br />
Mohamed Askar, associate professor of management,<br />
presented a teaching case study called “Kazareen Textile<br />
Holding—Ready for the Future?” Johnson also presented<br />
“Rapid Screening of Retail Sales Data: A Comparison of<br />
Distributions” with Mike Kruger, adjunct assistant<br />
professor of marketing science.<br />
Graduate School of Library and<br />
Information Science<br />
Bill Crowley, professor, published “Know Your ROEI (Return<br />
on Emotional Investment)” in the February 15, 2010 issue of<br />
Library Journal. In March, he spoke to the professional staff<br />
and administrators of the Ottawa (Canada) Public Library on<br />
topics drawn from his 2008 book Renewing Professional<br />
Librarianship, which addresses building a positive future<br />
for North American librarians.<br />
Chris Hagar, assistant professor, was guest editor of a<br />
special issue of the Bulletin of the American Society for<br />
Information Science and Technology on Crisis Informatics,<br />
Volume 36, Issue 5, June/ July 2010. She also authored a<br />
paper titled “Whom Do You Trust? Information Seeking<br />
During the U.K. Foot and Mouth Crisis,” published in<br />
Library and Archival Security, Volume 23, Issue 1, 2010.<br />
Alexis H. Sarkisian, adjunct professor, presented “Empowerment<br />
= Library Leadership + Strategic Communication” at the<br />
Empowerment Conference during the summer 2009 ALA<br />
National Meeting in Chicago. She also presented “Library<br />
Leadership and Communication” at the Rhode Island<br />
Library Association annual meeting and the North Texas<br />
Regional Library Association. Sarkisian produced a series of<br />
video segments for the <strong>University</strong> of Illinois Medical School<br />
focusing on its robotic medical program.<br />
Michael Stephens, assistant professor, presented “Creative<br />
Collaboration and Immersive Engagement: The Hyperlinked<br />
Campus,” at the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative Annual<br />
Meeting, in Austin, TX, in January. Sponsored by a grant from<br />
the U.S. Embassy in Berlin and the U.S. Mission in Geneva,<br />
Switzerland, Stephens presented various programs on social<br />
media to Swiss and German librarians/staff, social media<br />
professionals and embassy employees, and gave an invited<br />
presentation entitled “The Hyperlinked Community Library –<br />
Trends, Tools & Transparency” at the 4th Leipziger Kongress für<br />
Information und Bibliothek, in Leipzig, Germany. He also gave<br />
the closing plenary talk, titled “Driving Change, Creating<br />
Experience and Moving Forward,” at the U Game U Learn<br />
Conference in Delft, Holland, in April. Stephens also delivered<br />
the Dean’s and Director’s Lecture at the School of Library and<br />
Information Science at the <strong>University</strong> of South Carolina.<br />
School of Education<br />
Kimberly Garrett, assistant professor, presented a paper<br />
titled “Addressing Classroom Management Concerns of New<br />
Teachers in an Alternative Certification Program,” at the<br />
4th International Conference of the American Institute of<br />
Higher Education in March in Williamsburg, VA.<br />
Fall 2010 <strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> Magazine<br />
23
36<br />
CALENDAR OF EVENTS<br />
Come be a part of the many events<br />
<strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> has to offer.<br />
October<br />
Homecoming & Family Weekend<br />
Friday, October 1 through Sunday, October 3<br />
Center for Global Peace through<br />
Commerce Lecture: Gary Cuneen<br />
Growth Can Be Good: Sustainability<br />
and Commerce in the 21st Century<br />
Thursday, October 7, 6:30 p.m.<br />
Bluhm Auditorium, Parmer Hall<br />
President’s Signature Concert - Sara Evans<br />
Saturday, October 9, 2010, 7:30 p.m.<br />
McCusker Memorial Lecture:<br />
Barbara M. Jones<br />
Monday, October 11, 6:00 p.m.<br />
Martin Recital Hall.<br />
Siena Center Lecture: Melissa Musick<br />
Nussbaum and Anna Keating<br />
What Was Handed On To Me: Passing the<br />
Faith from One Generation to the Next<br />
Tuesday, October 12, 7:00 p.m.<br />
Priory Auditorium<br />
Center for Global Peace through<br />
Commerce Symposium<br />
The Power of Commerce for Social Good<br />
Wednesday, October 13, 2010,<br />
8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.<br />
Chicago<br />
The Butler Children’s Literature Center<br />
Continuing Education Conference<br />
The Truth about Discovery<br />
Saturday, October 23, 2010,<br />
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.<br />
Albertus Magnus Lecture:<br />
Irina Calin-Jageman, PhD<br />
Stem Cell Therapy: Clinical Possibilities<br />
and Ethical Implications<br />
Thursday, October 28, 7:00 p.m.<br />
Priory Room 263<br />
Memorial Mass and Brunch<br />
Sunday, October 31, 11:00 a.m.<br />
Rosary Chapel<br />
dom.edu / magazine<br />
November<br />
Samuel Mazzuchelli Lecture:<br />
William Lies, SCS, PhD<br />
<strong>Dominican</strong> by Adoption:<br />
Growing in a Life of Service<br />
Tuesday, November 2, 5:00 p.m.<br />
Martin Recital Hall<br />
Art Exhibit: Mark Booth<br />
November 3 – December 11<br />
O’Connor Art Gallery<br />
Opening Reception: Wednesday,<br />
November 3, 4:00 p.m.<br />
Founder’s Day Celebration<br />
Thursday, November 4<br />
Albertus Magnus Lecture:<br />
Kevin T. Fitzgerald, SJ, PhD<br />
Genomic Research and the Catholic Moral<br />
Tradition: Opportunities for a New Synergy<br />
Between Science and Religion<br />
Thursday, November 18, 7:00 p.m.<br />
Priory Auditorium<br />
December<br />
Siena Center Advent Program –<br />
Dianne Bergant, CSA, PhD<br />
Is God’s Reign of Peace Really Possible?<br />
Thursday, December 2, 7:00 p.m.<br />
Priory Auditorium<br />
27th Annual Alumnae/i Children’s<br />
Christmas Party<br />
Saturday, December 4, 12:30 p.m.<br />
Dining and Social Halls<br />
“Lessons and Carols” A Candlelight Service<br />
of Prayer and Music<br />
A <strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong> Christmas Tradition<br />
Wednesday, December 7, 5:00 p.m.<br />
Rosary Chapel<br />
January<br />
Winter Commencement<br />
Saturday, January 8, 2011, 1:00 p.m.<br />
Lund Auditorium<br />
Albertus Magnus Lecture:<br />
William Meadow, MD, PhD<br />
The Mathematics of Morality in the NICU<br />
Thursday, January 20, 2011, 7:00 p.m.<br />
Priory Room 263<br />
Alumnae/i Remembrance Mass<br />
Sunday, January 23, 2011, 11:00 a.m.<br />
Rosary Chapel<br />
Siena Center Lecture: Martha Jacob, PhD<br />
Life-Long Aging and the<br />
Baby Boom Phenomenon<br />
Wednesday, January 26, 2011, 7:00 p.m.<br />
February<br />
Siena Center Lecture: Orlando Espin, PhD<br />
Tradition and the Fabric of Life: How Ordinary<br />
People Future Our Past<br />
Thursday, February 8, 2011, 7:00 p.m.<br />
Albertus Magnus Lecture: Chia-Feng Chang, PhD<br />
Ethical Issues in Chinese Medicine<br />
Thursday, February 17, 2011, 7:00 p.m.<br />
Priory Room 263<br />
Siena Center Lecture: Dennis Kirchen, EdD<br />
The Formative Years<br />
Wednesday, February 23, 2011, 7:00 p.m.<br />
March<br />
31th Annual Trustee Benefit Concert<br />
Camerata Ireland<br />
Saturday, March 12, 2011, 5:00 p.m.<br />
Albertus Magnus Lecture:<br />
Aana Marie Vigen, PhD<br />
Unequal Distribution of Health Services<br />
in the U.S. and Across the Globe<br />
Thursday, March 24, 2011, 7:00 p.m.<br />
Priory Room 263<br />
* See page 5 for a listing of<br />
2010-2011 Performing Arts Center<br />
events and performances.
What inspired you?<br />
Your gift to<br />
<strong>Dominican</strong><br />
inspires students<br />
like Kristine.<br />
The Annual Fund supports<br />
academic programs, scholarships<br />
and the work of our faculty.<br />
“After graduation I plan to attend<br />
medical school and continue my<br />
studies in neuroscience. Dr. Irina<br />
Calin-Jageman’s enthusiasm and<br />
depth of knowledge helped to spark<br />
my love and passion for neuroscience.<br />
I will always be grateful to her for<br />
helping me find something I love.”<br />
Kristine Bonnick, Class of 2011<br />
Major: Neuroscience<br />
Minor: Chemistry<br />
Presidential Scholarship Recipient<br />
<strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
7900 West Division Street<br />
River Forest, IL 60305<br />
(708) 524-6298<br />
www.dom.edu/give<br />
Give to<br />
THE ANNUAL FUND<br />
2010-2011
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River Forest, IL 60305<br />
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Named by U.S. News & World Report<br />
as a top 20 master’s level university and<br />
a “Great School, Great Price.”<br />
Sustainability is a shared priority.<br />
Printed using soy inks.<br />
Available online at www.dom.edu/magazine<br />
OUR MISSION<br />
PASSING GLANCES<br />
When she isn’t conducting research<br />
for her book, Sr. Jeanne nurtures<br />
the plants in the greenhouse.<br />
As a Sinsinawa <strong>Dominican</strong>-sponsored institution, <strong>Dominican</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
prepares students to pursue truth, to give compassionate service and<br />
to participate in the creation of a more just and humane world.<br />
Rosary’s “Cow and Flivver” Drama<br />
Non-Profit<br />
Organization<br />
US Postage<br />
PAID<br />
<strong>Dominican</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong><br />
While Sr. Jeanne Crapo, OP, archivist emerita and professor emerita in English, has more knowledge of<br />
university history than just about anyone, in the year since her retirement from the <strong>University</strong> Archives,<br />
she has uncovered some fascinating accounts from the early years of the school that were new even to her,<br />
and paint a special picture of life on the campus when little existed except Rosary House (pictured) where<br />
the sisters taught local high school girls, surrounded by wide open spaces.<br />
In conducting research for her forthcoming book on the history of the university, Sr. Jeanne discovered<br />
a Chicago Tribune news article from 1920 titled “The Cow and the Flivver: A Drama of River Forest”<br />
describing the theatrics that ensued when a wandering cow interrupted the rehearsals for a Mass to<br />
celebrate the seasons. It seems the cow took a liking to the floral garlands the students wore and even<br />
after dining on the flowers, refused to move along. When the sheriff was summoned, he discovered that<br />
the offender was his own cow, Lucy, yet when he tied her to his Flivver (a Ford Model T automobile)<br />
to lead her home, Lucy refused to budge. When Lucy ultimately decided it was time to go home,<br />
she did so at her own sweet pace, with the sheriff’s car in tow.<br />
“The campus was surrounded by fields and pasture, so those early<br />
students were truly pioneers who were willing to put up with quite<br />
a lot to get a wonderful education from the sisters,” she says.