Monthly Archives: April 2016

Open Source – Mexican & Mex-American Press

From Remezcla: “In 2013, University of Arizona Libraries made 150 years of regionally published newspapers chronicling Mexican and Mexican-American history available online for the first time. Librarians and archivists curated, researched, and digitized the database, which includes 20 different publications. “Throughout history, Spanish-language reporting has preserved the Mexican cultural narrative in written form,” said Assistant Professor Roberto Cintli Rodriguez. And the collection is useful to “anyone interested in the Mexican cultural narrative and the Mexican voice – the fight for their land, language, and rights.””

1The Historic Mexican and Mexican American Press collection documents and showcases historic Mexican and Mexican American publications published in Tucson, El Paso, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sonora, Mexico from the mid-1800s to the 1970s. The collection covers important periods in Mexican-American history, from the Mexican Revolution to the Bracero Program to the Chicano Movement. There are about 1,900,000 Latino and Hispanic population in Arizona and more than 50 million in the United States. Having this collection available to the public through digitization of these materials, will raise awareness to issues that advance the image and identity of Latinos in American politics and media and their contributions to the United States.

The idea for this collection originated with an exhibit created by students of the History of Red-Brown Journalism and Communication course, taught by Dr. Roberto Cintli Rodriguez of the Mexican American Studies and Research Center at the University of Arizona. The course examined early civil and human rights struggles from the 19th and 20th century and Mexican-American journalism in the United States. The exhibit shared the students’ research with the community on the history of journalism and communication of Latino and indigenous populations.

SAGE Video Trial

The Ames Library now has a 30 day  trial for SAGE Videos, available at http://sk.sagepub.com.proxy.iwu.edu/video.

SAGE Video hosts streaming video collections created to support a range of levels, from reference content for research, to pedagogical content for undergraduate teaching, to higher- level academic interest material.

If you have any questions about using SAGE Video, contact your librarian.

Ames Student Art Award

13051555_999564073467036_800724834578975250_nThe Ames Library is pleased to present senior BFA art major Justice Macklin with the 2016 Ames Library Art Purchase Award. The prize winning photos will be displayed on the entry level of Ames Library throughout the 2016/17 academic year. Congratulations Justice!

Since 1996, The Ames Library has purchased a piece of artwork every year from a collection of work done by a senior BFA art student. The chosen piece is displayed on the entry level of The Ames Library for one academic year, after which it is moved to the permanent collection of student artwork on the second floor.

For additional information, contact Robert Delvin, fine arts librarian for The Ames Library, at (309) 556-3003.

To view images of past Art Purchase Award winners, please visit our online collection.12670370_999564070133703_2091142230505509159_n

Celebrate Scholarship: Student Research Conferences

On November 16, 2010 the U.S. House of Representatives declared the week of April 11, 2011 as “Undergraduate Research Week”. Since that time, each year CUR has designated a week in April as “Undergraduate Research Week”. While we celebrate, take a look at some of the research venues in which Titans share their work.

2016-workshop-poster

Human Rights Undergraduate Research Workshop

The Center for Human Rights and Social Justice at Illinois Wesleyan sponsored its fourth annual Human Right Undergraduate Research Workshop on Feb. 26-27, 2016. The theme for the workshop was Inequality and Inequity – emphasizing on the economic, social, and political aspects of those issues. Undergraduate students from liberal arts institutions across the country came together for two days, presenting their independent research that relates to this year’s theme. It is a workshop setting, so the presentations were informal and there was room for dialogue among participants. Not only students, but also faculty mentors are invited to attend. During just two days, there is beneficial interaction and considerable bonding between students from different institutions.

src-logo-2016John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference

The John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference was established as an annual event in 1990. Held in April each year, the conference provides an opportunity for students who are pursuing individual research projects to present those projects in a public forum. Research projects pursued by students at any level – freshman through senior – and in any academic program throughout the university, are eligible to participate. Research can be presented either in a poster session format, or in a (15-min) oral presentation.

The conference typically attracts more than 100 undergraduates, who showcase research projects from a variety of University departments and programs, including: psychology, economics, political science, biology, mathematics, chemistry, English, theatre, and history.

ae4b1f12e7e8319222b35360f0da9a26German Undergraduate Research Conference

The German Program at Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU) in Bloomington, IL hosted its fourth undergraduate research conference on April 11-12, 2015. The purpose of this German-language conference is to provide an outlet for students engaging with any area of German Studies to present their research to their peers and to receive feedback in an academic setting. Since this conference is open to all advanced-level undergraduate students at any university in the United States, it will afford those attending an opportunity not only to network with others researching in German Studies, but also to discuss their own academic and study abroad experiences with students from different universities. Presenting at this conference will provide students with valuable experience that will be relevant to any field of work or study being considered after graduation. This year’s conference is organized by Professors Sonja Fritzsche and Adam Woodis, IWU. For more information, please visit the conference website.

Celebrate Scholarship: Popular Student Papers in Digital Commons

On November 16, 2010 the U.S. House of Representatives declared the week of April 11, 2011 as “Undergraduate Research Week”. Since that time, each year CUR has designated a week in April as “Undergraduate Research Week”.  As we celebrate Undergraduate Research Week in The Ames Library, take a look at some of the most popular student scholarship* (*based on the average number of full-text downloads per day since the paper was posted).

Digital Commons @ IWU is a collection of excellent and distinctive research, scholarship and creative activity. Student journals, Honors Theses, and presentations from the annual John Wesley Powell Undergraduate Research Conference are included, as are publications by faculty and staff.

Shaping the American Woman: Feminism and Advertising in the 1950s

  • Written by Christina Catalano
  • Published in 2002 in Constructing the Past, vol. 3, issue 1
  • This article is a critique of the feminist assertion that 1950s advertising was degrading to women. It shows that in several advertisments from the time period, women were portrayed as being competent and successful, both in working in the home and outside of it as well.
  • 52,221 downloads since September 11, 2008

World War II and Fashion: The Birth of the New Look

  • Written by Lauren Olds
  • Published in 2001 in Constructing the Past, vol. 2, issue 2
  • This article discusses the changes that took place in the style of women’s fashions from the 1930s to the late 1940s, from the simpler wartime styles to the frilly, extravagant look popularized by Dior.
  • 47,984 downloads since September 11, 2008

The Evolution of Hominid Bipedalism

  • Written by Michael Friedman
  • Published in 2006, anthropology honors project
  • Paleoanthropologists mark the divergence between apes and hominids with the adaptation of bipedalism five to six million years ago. In this paper, I argue that while the first upright hominids occurred in this time frame, the process of becoming a fully efficient biped took much longer and was not complete until Homo erectus at 1.8 million years ago. To provide context to the puzzle of how and why our ancestors evolved upright walking, I examine many of the prevailing theories of bipedal origins, including the aquatic ape hypothesis, the heat hypothesis, and the carrying hypothesis.
  • 38,120 downloads since September 11, 2008

Nikita Khrushchev, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Aftermath

  • Written by Jason Roeschley
  • Published in 2011 in Constructing the Past, vol. 12, issue 1
  • Through the use of primary and secondary sources, this essay seeks to define the role of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev during the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, which was essential to avoiding nuclear devastation between the Soviet Union and the United States. Additionally, the essay examines the consequences of the crisis including the Sino-Soviet split, the ousting of Khrushchev, and the effects of continued Cuban-Soviet relations.
  • 21,758 downloads since June 20, 2011

The Effects of Family, Social, and Background Factors on Children’s Educational Attainment

  • Written by Megan De Serf
  • Published in 2002, economics honors project
  • In a perfect world, children of all races, socioeconomic backgrounds, and family types would not only have the opportunity to receive a higher education, but they would also take full advantage of these opportunities. The educational level of children in the ghettos of Chicago or St. Louis would be equal to their suburban counterparts. However, it is not a perfect world, and educational attainment of children and young adults from varying backgrounds differ greatly.
  • 32,621 downloads since July 21, 2008

Effects of Store Atmosphere on Shopping Behavior

  • Written by Wendy Billings
  • Published in 1990, business honors project
  • There is little sound documentation for the actual effects of store atmosphere on shopping behavior. Some retailers have claimed that they have influenced customers’ buying behavior by manipulating store atmosphere via layout, color, lighting, and music (wysocki 1979; Stevens 1980). However, this evidence is solely anecdotal. Researchers have been unable to document strong effects of store atmosphere for a variety of reasons. First, the effects evoked by store atmosphere are primarily emotional states that are difficult to verbalize. These emotions are temporary and therefore difficult to recall accurately. In addition, they influence behaviors within the store rather than more easily identifiable behaviors such as selecting which store to patronize (Donovan and Rossiter 1982). Previous retail image studies have used structured questionnaire surveys which ask respondents to rate various researcher-specified attributes according to their importance for patronage. However, this method clearly does not capture the consumer’s true emotional responses to the store’s atmosphere; it simply lists atmosphere as one component of store image.In addition, the majority of previous store-atmosphere measurement, which was usually done in the context of store image research, has been conducted outside of the store environment, long after the actual shopping experience. This method is not very reliable, since it is difficult for respondents to recall accurately their emotional responses to a particular atmosphere while in a different setting.Thus, if store atmosphere can actually affect shopping behavior within the store, it is necessary to develop a framework with which to study such effects. This study will attempt to apply the Mehrabian-Russell model, an environmental psychology framework, to explore environmental variables in retail settings.
  • 27,808 downloads since October 7, 2008

The Relationship between Crime and Unemployment

  • Written by Matthew Melick
  • Published in 2003 in The Park Place Economist, vol. 11
  • This paper examines the relationship between motor vehicle theft and unemployment at the state level in an attempt to understand which perspective has the overriding effect. The rest of the paper explores whether there is a significant relationship between economic conditions and motor vehicle theft.
  • 27,664 downloads since February 13, 2008

An Economic Analysis of the Death Penalty

  • Written by Martin Kasten
  • Published in 1996 in University Avenue Undergraduate Journal of Economics, vol. 1, issue 1
  • From an economic perspective, society should only use capital punishment if the marginal benefits outweigh the marginal costs. In the course of analyzing the economic efficiency of capital punishment, and before providing any recommendations, both the benefits and costs of the death penalty must be evaluated. Since the death penalty has been implemented for centuries, many people believe its benefits outweigh its costs. The evaluation of benefits in Part II will be compared to the costs assessed in Part III to determine if this long held assertion is correct.
  • 6,164 downloads since April 16, 2014

 

Women of Color Week

Women of Color Week is an entire week here at IWU dedicated to educating, connecting, supporting and celebrating our community through events centered on Women of Color.

In addition to events held throughout campus, “Get in Formation,” a talk by Nicole Ruth Brown will be held in the Beckman Auditorium on Friday, April 15 at 7pm.
Monday, April 11th – “Dispelling the Myths” A student led presentation and discussion about harmful stereotypes surrounding women of color. SFH 102, 7pm

Tuesday, April 12th – “Women of color in the Work Place” A group of professional women from the area come and talk about their experiences as a woman in their field. A great way to connect! Joslin Atrium, 5:30pm

Wednesday, April 13th – In collaboration with Feminism: Equality Matters and the IWU Sexual Assault Task Force, Women of Color Week invites you to participate in Take Back the Night- an opportunity for survivors and allies to share, discuss and empower our campus. (You can find our FB event) SFH steps, 7pm

Thursday, April 14th – RSO Day; the Black Student Union, Spanish and Latino Student Association, and Feminism: Equality Matters will be hosting an informational poster session on women of color in our respective fields. Eckley Lounge, 11am

Friday, April 15th – “Formation Day” Women of Color Week will be hosting speaker Nicole Ruth Brown from U of I. She will be speaking on supporting and empowering women within your communities. Ames, Beckman Auditorium, 7pm

Celebrate Scholarship: IWU Research Scholarships

On November 16, 2010 the U.S. House of Representatives declared the week of April 11, 2011 as “Undergraduate Research Week”. Since that time, each year CUR has designated a week in April as “Undergraduate Research Week”.  As we celebrate Undergraduate Research Week in The Ames Library, consider the numbeous scholarships and fellowships available to IWU Titans.

Research Fellowships and Scholarships

Scholarship Program Supports Student Research, Creative EndeavorsIllinois Wesleyan offers unique and significant opportunities to encourage and recognize student research. In fact, nearly every program listed below was created by former faculty members, university leadership or alumni who wanted to offer students the same opportunities they enjoyed.

The Eckley Summer Scholars and Artists endowment supports summer research and creative activity for several students each year, enabling them to stay on campus over the summer to work under the direction of faculty mentors. The program was established by the late President Emeritus Robert S. Eckley, his wife Nell and the Eckley Family Foundation.

Award: $4,000 (must be a currently enrolled student to qualify)

Eckley Scholars:

2015:  Stephanie AuBuchon ’16, David Allen Flowers ’16, Michelle Riechers ’16, Ryan Schonert ’16, Wenting Zhao ’18
2014: 
Natalie Hoijer ’15, Mike Kistner ’15, Niccole Nelson ’16 , Thomas Simmons ’15 and Kiri Stauch ’16
2013:  Maggie Zhou ’14, Timothy Mueller ’14, Sarah Menke ’15, Molly Guenette ’14 and Ryan Winter ’14
2012:  Sarah Takushi ’13, Dustin Springer ’13, Rachel Branson ’14, Justyna Koscielniak ’14 and Daniel Maurer ’12

Wesleyan Awarded $300,000 Grant for Humanities Initiatives

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Humanities Scholars
The summer Humanities Scholars program is open to students in all disciplines for projects grounded in the humanities — Greek and Roman Studies, English, History, Modern Languages and Literatures, Religion, or Philosophy. Each scholar will collaborate with a faculty member.

Award: $4,000 (must be a currently enrolled student to qualify)

Mellon Scholars:

2015: Lydia Hartlaub ’16, Anna Lowenthal ’16, Nicholas Berardelli ’16
2014:
 Timothy McDunn ’16, Lisa Mishra ’15, Colleen O’Connor ’14 and Nathaniel Douglas ’15
2013: 
Mallika Kavadi ’15 and Joseph O’Brien ’14

Megan Thompson

The John and Erma Stutzman Peace Fellows Program was created in 2007 to encourage talented Illinois Wesleyan University students to pursue focused study in areas involving peace, conflict resolution, and social justice, areas that reflect the broader University mission. Students are awarded a stipend to support their selected projects.

Award: $1,000 (must be a currently enrolled student to qualify)

Peace Fellows:

2015: Nicole Jovicevic ’16, Kira Miller ’16, Jennifer Prochotsky ’16, Hannah Scatterday ’17
2014:
 Jeremy Duffee ’14; Chelsa Green ’14
2013: Yelei Kong ’13
2012: Alejandro Monzón ’13
2011: Megan Thompson ’12
2010: Gwen Robinson ’11
2009: Emily Coles ’11 and Jessica Meyer ’11
2008: Marie-Claudine Villacorta ’08 and Monica Shah ’09
2007: Holly Aldrich ’09 and Daniel Burke ’09

Weir Fellows

Elizabeth Weir Action Research Fellowships are distributed through Illinois Wesleyan’s Action Research Center (ARC), which links Illinois Wesleyan students with research projects involving local not-for-profit organizations. Candidates should develop projects that make a meaningful impact on the community.

Award: Up to $1,500 (must be a currently enrolled student to qualify)

Weir Fellows:

2015: Leo Martinez ’15, Nettie Rauch ’15, Jacquelyn Schirmacher ’18, Amanda King ’15, Rachel Shaffer ’17
2014:
Lexia Swope ’15 and Julie Lewis ’16
2013: Matt LaLonde ’14, Annette Rauch ’15, Dave McGrath ‘5 and Meagan DeSalvo ’15
2012: Ryan Dyar ’14 and Danny Kenny ’13
2011: Kaitie Fancher ’11 and Matt Hill ’12
2010: Lindsey Haines ’10 and Kenny Woodard ’10
2009: Sneh Rajbhandari ’09 and Danny Burke ’09
2008: Laura Maxwell ’09

Crileys

Criley Student Research Endowment
The Criley Student Research Endowment, established in 2008 by alumni in honor of retiring biology faculty Bruce and Norma Criley, provides summer research opportunities in the sciences.

Award: $4,000 (must be a currently enrolled student to qualify)

Criley Research Fellows:

2015: Rachel Ende ’16, Blake Beehler ’16
2014:
 Lydia Rudd ’16

Ben White

Mark Israel Endowed Summer Research Fund in Economics
Mark Israel ’91 established an Endowed Summer Research Fund in Economics, providing students with the same experience he valued as a student — the opportunity to perform topical economics research, working in close collaboration with members of the economics faculty.

Award: $4,000 (must be a currently enrolled student to qualify)

Recipients:

2015: Lu Liao ’17
2014: 
Andy Dao ’15 
2013:
Ben White ’14

Bill Murphy Research Fellowship Scholar

Recipient:

2015:  Matthew McGill  ’17

Social Entrepreneurship

Zoellick Fellowship in Social Entrepreneurship
Todd Zoellick, a class of 2000 graduate, donated funds to allow the Action Research Center to offer the Zoellick Fellowship in Social Entrepreneurship to IWU students.

Award: $1,500 to help implement a business idea

Recipients:

2015: Dave Myers ’15 and Boryana Borisova ’17
2013:
Vanessa Macias ’14 and Josh Wiggs ’15

Book

Luis Leal Endowed Scholarship
The Luis Leal Endowed Scholarship is available to qualified students who carry out Hispanic Studies research off campus in an IWU-affiliated program.

Award: Up to $1,000 (must be a currently enrolled student to qualify)

Recipients:

2015: Martha Aguirre ’17
2014: 
Thalia Novoa ’16 and Huyen Nguyen ’17

Living History: Working in the Museum Trenches

History and English Alum, Erika Holst (Rozinek) will be speaking in The Ames Library at 4pm on April 7th (Beckman Auditorium) on “Living History: Working in the Museum Trenches.”

b32c77_f2c8b0c2e01145ce9dda71b9915bdbcfErika is a 2001 Illinois Wesleyan graduate in History and English, is the Curator of Collections at the Springfield Art Association in Springfield, Illinois, where she oversees all aspects of interpreting and promoting historic Edwards Place, an antebellum historic house museum.  She holds a Master’s Degree from the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture through the University of Delaware and has previously worked at the David Davis Mansion in Bloomington, Illinois; Dickson Mounds Museum in Lewistown, Illinois; and the Papers of Abraham Lincoln documentary editing project in Springfield, Illinois.

 

Holst is the author of Edwards Place: A Springfield Treasure (privately published, 2015) and Wicked Springfield: Crime, Corruption, and Scandal During the Lincoln Era (The History Press, 2010).  Her scholarly work has appeared in the Journal of Illinois History and the Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association, and her popular work has appeared in History Magazineand Illinois Heritage.  She is a regular contributor to the Springfield Illinois Times, a local independent newspaper.

Anti-Procrastination Project

From 6pm-11pm on Tuesday, April 12  

Writing Center staff and library faculty will be available in The Ames Library to help you with unfinished (or not started) projects and papers.   We hope to help defray some of the stresses of the end of the semester by helping you get over the hump of whatever is keeping you from getting on with that paper, project, oral presentation, poster, or video.  Please share with friends that we will be available during this time.  Poster printing on demand will be available from 6:30-9:30.  Two Masseuses will be available from 7-9 pm.

Anti-Procrastination Project Poster (Flyer Size) Spring 2016

Early IWU Presidential Biographies

The following bibliographies originally appeared in the IWU, Ames Library Tate Archives blog.

Clinton W. Sears, 1855-1857

Clinton W. Sears

Clinton W. Sears

Sears was the first official president of Illinois Wesleyan University and served from 1855 until 1857. He was born in New York in 1820 but spent most of his life in Ohio. He graduated from Wesleyan University in Connecticut in 1841. Before his presidency, he held the dual position of librarian and Professor of Ancient Languages and Literature.

Oliver Spencer Munsell, 1857-1873

Oliver Spencer Munsell

Oliver Spencer Munsell

Munsell was born in Ohio in 1825. He graduated from Indiana Asbury University and then later studied law and was admitted to the bar. He served as the principal at two different seminaries and was the president of Illinois Wesleyan University from 1857 – 1873.

Samuel J. Fallows, 1873-

Samuel J. Fallows

Samuel J. Fallows

Fallows was born in England and immigrated to Wisconsin with his family in 1848 where he

joined the Methodist Church at the age of 19. He studied at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin and at the University of Wisconsin. He was the Vice-President and Principal of Galesville University for two years, joined the Union Army in 1862, and served as the chaplain for the 32nd Wisconsin Infantry. He was also a Professor-elect of Natural Sciences at Lawrence and later a superintendent. He became president of Illinois Wesleyan University in 1873.