Author Archives: Ann Aubry

Moralee Receives Prestigious Rome Prize

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University Associate Professor of History Jason Moralee is the recipient of the prestigious Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Post-Doctoral Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome.

Beginning this fall, Moralee will spend 11 months in Rome as a fellow at the academy, working among 30 fellows in diverse fields. “The artists and scholars who are awarded the Rome Prize are chosen from across the nation and represent the highest standard of excellence in the arts and humanities,” said Shawn Miller, program director of the academy.

Moralee, the first Illinois Wesleyan faculty member to receive a full fellowship with the academy, said the prize is more than an honor. “I saw the American Academy in Rome when I was doing my graduate studies, and I knew it would always be a goal of mine to study there,” he said. “It is fabulously situated, and an incredible opportunity to speak with other scholars.”

Founded in 1894, the academy is located on the Janiculum, the highest hill within the walls of Rome. The goal of the fellowship program is to invite scholars from different fields to converse and collaborate. “We hope to give those creating art the chance to speak with those who study the best in art and humanities,” said Miller. “The fellows live in the same buildings and eat together. It offers them a chance to share ideas, and develop their work to new depths. It is a true intellectual community.” Other scholars and artists joining Moralee include architects, artists and composers, as well as professors from such universities as Columbia and Colgate.

400 Years of Galileo: Myths, Facts and Influence of a Renaissance Man

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Galileo Galilei has been called the father of modern astronomy, the father of modern physics and the father of modern science. As the international science community celebrates the 400th anniversary of Galileo turning his telescope to the skies, Illinois Wesleyan University Professor of Physics Linda French talked about the continuing influence of this Renaissance man.

“Anyone who has ever taken physics, or even looked through a telescope, has some knowledge of Galileo’s findings,” said French, of the man who discovered four moons of Jupiter, and promoted the idea that the earth was not the center of the universe.

It was the latter idea that ran Galileo into trouble with the Inquisition. “I think more people remember him for his problems with the Inquisition than his mathematical interpretation of physical properties,” she said. “Whether he wanted to or not, he fought a battle that had to be fought.”

Kasprzak Competes on “So You Think You Can Dance?”

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Evan Kasprzak, who just completed his junior year at Illinois Wesleyan University, has made it onto the fifth season of Fox TV’s So You Think You Can Dance? as one of the top 20 dancers. Kasprzak auditioned for the show last year, but was cut just before the final roster of contenders was decided.

“It’s an amazing experience getting to be around so many incredibly talented people who are so passionate about the same things,” said Kasprzak, a music-theater major. Over the summer, he will have to prove himself against those people to win votes from the audience. Anyone can vote by calling a toll-free number, and those votes will determine how far he advances on the show.

After auditioning in Memphis in May with his older brother Ryan Kasprzak, who choreographed his routine, Evan Kasprzak advanced to the Las Vegas callbacks to compete for a place in the top 20. Unfortunately, his brother Ryan was cut from the show with the judges’ condolences on the June 4 episode, and Evan was left to continue on his own to rehearse and perform in Los Angeles for the summer. “One Kasprzak is better than no Kasprzaks,” said Ryan during the final moments of the episode, nudging his younger brother to join the other finalists.

Recent Grad Receives Coveted Government Fellowship

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Recent graduate Christine Gibbs of Glen Ellyn, Ill., has been admitted into the prestigious James H. Dunn Memorial Fellowship Program in Illinois government. Gibbs, a political science and international studies double major, will be a full-time employee of the Illinois state government for the next year.

“The Dunn Fellowship aims to train college graduates to become better leaders in state government some day,” said Gibbs. As the “federal liaison,” Gibbs will be helping to represent the interests of the state of Illinois at the federal level. Her position is the only one of approximately 19 Dunn Fellowships awarded each year to take place in Washington, D.C.

Past recipients of the Dunn Fellowship hail from some of the top universities in the country, said Illinois Wesleyan University Chair and Associate Professor of Political Science James Simeone. “The Dunn Fellowship, particularly the Washington, D.C. position, is a very competitive and very coveted prize for students of political science,” he said.

Professor’s Research Ties Fitness to Avoiding Mistakes

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — What advice do you hear to help you avoid making mistakes? Slow down. Take it easy. Double-check your work.

How about — Go for a jog?

An Illinois Wesleyan University faculty member has been gaining attention for his studies connecting higher levels of fitness to improvements in correcting mistakes.

Assistant Professor of Psychology Jason Themanson has been studying the idea that fitness levels can affect the area of the brain that detects mistakes.

His study, which was originally published last year in Neuroscience, caught the attention of Men’s Health magazine. In a June 2009 Men’s Health article titled “Win the Mind Games,” Themanson is quoted as saying study subjects with higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness could better identify and correct more mistakes than those in the study who were less fit. “Fitter people can absorb more oxygen into their blood,” said Themanson, noting fitness was related to the improved function of the part of the brain that detects errors, known as the anterior cingulate cortex. “When you make a mistake, the cingulate cortex sends a signal, letting you know,” he said.

Liberal Arts Opportunities Inspire Change in Poet Alum

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – When Mark Yakich entered Illinois Wesleyan in 1988, he never imagined becoming an award-winning poet with four published books and another on the way. The political science major, who later earned multiple graduate degrees and is currently an associate professor of English at Loyola University, New Orleans, did not enjoy English studies and notes that he only read two novels — Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being and J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye — before age 25.

Yakich is a multi-focused artist who, according to Susan Larson of The Times-Picayune, “makes the reader re-evaluate what a word can do, what a word can mean, even what history as we know it is all about.” Here, Yakich explains via e-mail Illinois Wesleyan’s integral role in his winding path to poetry and how he became an actor, of sorts.

When you were selecting your undergraduate university, what drew you to Illinois Wesleyan?

My mother drew me to IWU. Mom didn’t want me to go far away from home, so it was either the University of Illinois or Illinois Wesleyan. I believe she liked the brochure we got in the mail. We took a visit to IWU, a day trip, and I thought it was nice and not too big. I liked the idea of a small, liberal arts university and I didn’t want to be a number [like I could have been] at the University of Illinois even though I had a small plan to go there to major in architecture. I still love architecture and have kept many of the drawings I did of cotter pins, flywheels and one of a fireplace inlaid with black marble and bordered by stained glass in a tool chest in my closet for many years.

English Chair to Lead International Updike Society

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – A newly formed organization devoted to the works of Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist John Updike will be headed by Illinois Wesleyan University English Department Chair James Plath.

At the American Literature Association’s annual conference in Boston May 24, Updike scholars formed The John Updike Society. The group, which includes 40 scholars from five countries, plans to publish a journal of Updike studies and to host conferences in places where the author worked and lived, like Pennsylvania and Boston. Illinois Wesleyan will host the society’s Web site.

“What John Updike has done for American literature is astounding,” Plath said. “His work connects us with our American literary past, and he is forever a part of that now.” Plath has studied Updike for more than 20 years. His interest in the novelist was first piqued during an English class at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Plath began a correspondence with the author, and eventually wrote his dissertation on “The Painterly Aspects of John Updike’s Fiction.” He also worked closely with the novelist while editing the book Conversations with John Updike in 1994.

Council for IWU Women Inspiring Students, Graduates

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Inspiring students to discover self-confidence is one of the keystones of a liberal arts education. Illinois Wesleyan University is meeting that need in students with groups such as the Council for IWU Women, which was created to instill confidence in female students with the help of a plentiful resource – successful alumnae.

Marsha Guenzler-Stevens, a 1978 Illinois Wesleyan graduate and founding member of the council, recalled her own experiences at Illinois Wesleyan as a female in the male-dominated major of biology in the 1970s. “A sense of self was a gift I received from Illinois Wesleyan,” she said, noting former Professor of Biology Dorthea Franzen as one of her strongest mentors. “I was embedded with a great sense of courage and a magnificent mentorship from Dorthea. She opened doors for me she didn’t even know she opened.”

At Illinois Wesleyan, a task force was created to explore whether female students’ attitudes reflected the national studies. The task force reported its findings to the Alumni Council Executive Board in 2005. “The Board heard data which implied Illinois Wesleyan women come to the University with talent and unending potential, but have less confidence than their male counterparts,” said Guenzler-Stevens.

“It’s a balancing act for women in leadership,” said Pat Wilson, another founding member of the Council for IWU Women and the wife of University President Richard F. Wilson. “If women have a ‘take no prisoners’ attitude and exhibit traits typically thought of as tough, it can be received as abrasive. It can be confusing to women, which is why it is so important for women to have other female role models.”

Anthropology and The Ames Library: A Study of How Students Study

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Upon hearing the phrase “anthropological study,” images of professors traveling to remote villages or isolated mountain regions might come to mind. Yet there is an anthropological study being conducted here at Illinois Wesleyan University – a study looking at the ways students study.

“We’re trying to get a very detailed and close-up understanding of how students approach information gathering with an eye toward how the library can better facilitate those processes,” said Andrew Asher, the resident anthropologist hired to conduct the ethnographic study for The Ames Library titled “Anthropologist in the Library: Helping Librarians Support Student Success.”

Asher, who comes to Illinois Wesleyan from the University of Illinois, was hired last October through a two-year grant, which comes from the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) under the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office. The grant is shared by five Illinois universities. This month, the library received word the state is continuing the second year of funding at $160,000 for the five institutions.

Transforming Lives Campaign Announced with $125 Million Goal

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University kicked off its $125-million Transforming Lives: The Campaign for Illinois Wesleyan University with gala celebrations in both Bloomington and Chicago, and announced that more than $73 million had been pledged so far from alumni and friends across the country.

During the kickoff galas, it was announced that Honorary Campaign Chairs B. Charles “Chuck” Ames and Joyce “Jay” Eichhorn Ames made an endowment gift valued at $25 million. The gift is the largest ever received by Illinois Wesleyan.

“We are extremely fortunate to have alumni like Chuck and Jay Ames, who believe it’s important to give something back,” said University President Richard F. Wilson. “The Ames gift, along with many others received thus far is a testament to the impact the University has had on the lives of our alumni and friends and this community.”

The campaign is the most ambitious in the history of Illinois Wesleyan, with a goal of raising $125 million over the five-year campaign period. Nearly 80 percent of the campaign goal will go to support student scholarships, need-based financial aid and faculty and program endowments. In addition, several new building projects will be funded.

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