Author Archives: Ann Aubry

Students Intern for a Cause

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University students are turning the causes closest to their hearts into summer internships.

Several students are working across the nation and overseas at internships for not-for-profit groups. According to Laurie Diekhoff, assistant director for the Hart Career Center, more students are choosing internships outside the traditional corporate world. “I believe this generation of students is very socially aware,” Diekhoff said. “They come to campus with a history of volunteer and community service experience, so it’s natural that they want to continue to be involved in meaningful service work.”

From helping in the fight against breast cancer to making the arts affordable, students are tackling internships that satisfy their desire to make a difference or give back to the community.

For the Cure

When Illinois Wesleyan University senior Lauren Gearhart sought out a summer internship with the St. Louis affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, she knew volunteering would mean supporting breast cancer activists and survivors like her sister, who was diagnosed this past November. “I always had an interest in the foundation,” said Gearhart, a business administration and sociology double major. “But I never took action to discover more about it until the cause hit home.”

Working under the director of marketing and public relations for the foundation, Gearhart began her internship in the middle of preparation for the 25th annual Komen Race for the Cure, which took place on June 21. Considered to be the largest series of 5K runs and fitness walks in the world, it is the Foundation’s most lucrative fundraiser; over a billion dollars has been collected for cancer research to date.

Gearhart recalls both the chaos of her first two weeks, describing the office phones as ringing off the hook in preparation, and the satisfaction of the day of the race itself. “Preparing for it was more challenging than I thought it would be, but well worth it when you see over 64 thousand people supporting your cause,” she said.

For the Pride

Junior Erin Strauts, an executive board member of IWU’s Pride Alliance, has taken her cause all the way to Washington, D.C. The political science major is living and working in the nation’s capital while she interns for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

The HRC is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) equality. As part of her internship, Strauts is writing a research paper exploring the correlation between visibility of same-sex couples in society and public opinion of relationship recognition for same-sex couples.

A research intern, Strauts is responsible for pulling together polling information, statistics and research on GLBT issues into one central document. “One of the careers I’m interested in is working in survey research and having not-for-profit clients,” said Strauts. “At HRC, I’ve gotten the experience of helping design a national survey, and I’ve made connections through this internship that will definitely help me in the future.”

For the People

Lauren Nelson, who is majoring in international studies, spent the second semester of her junior year abroad in St. Petersburg, Russia before traveling to Prague, where she attends classes at Charles University and interns at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) with the Russian language service.

RFE/RL’s mission is to provide uncensored news and information to countries where a free press is either banned by the government or not fully established. Broadcasting to 30 million listeners in 28 languages in 21 countries, the station reaches Eastern and southeastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, the Middle East and Central and Southwest Asia. Compiling news from diverse sources across the world, Nelson’s reviews are translated into Russian and broadcasted on “Time of Liberty,” a daily program.

Professor’s Book Gives Self-Taught Poets Their Due

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.—It has been called poetry of the uneducated, the peasant class or the laboring class. Yet these terms demean what a group of poets from the 1700s produced, said Julie Prandi, a professor at Illinois Wesleyan University. “Their work has meaning and life that we can see even today, but it has often been dismissed as lower class or second rate,” she said.

In Prandi’s latest book, The Poetry of the Self-Taught: An Eighteenth-Century Phenomenon (Peter Lang Publishing, May 2008), she adopts the term “self-taught poets” for those who did not have formal educations through universities. The book is one of the first real attempts to compare the works of self-taught poets in Germany and the United Kingdom during the eighteenth century. “Many people have studied these poets individually, and found what they thought were idiosyncrasies, or just charming elements of their writing,” said Prandi, “when in fact they were characteristics these poets shared with other self-taught poets.”

Prandi, a professor of German who has written a book and several articles on the poet Goethe, discovered the self-taught poet Anna Louise Karsch in the 1990s when working with Women in German, a scholarly organization devoted to research on female, German authors. “I found her work exciting, and I had never seen it in any anthology,” said Prandi. “I thought, ‘this has to be a mistake that she was left out.’” Through her research, Prandi uncovered that few self-taught poets were included in anthologies or textbooks. “Many of them enjoyed fame in their lifetimes, but scholars dismissed them because their work did not follow the standards of what was being taught at universities at the time,” said Prandi.

Because of this bias, much of the work of the self-taught poets vanished as centuries passed. “We assume that poetry disappears from literary history because it was bad, and did not stand the test of time,”’ said Prandi. “But sometimes scholars make mistakes.”

Political Internships Offer Proving Ground

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.— With the 2008 presidential election only a few months away, the world of politics is earning an even brighter spotlight than usual. This summer, some Illinois Wesleyan University students are a close look at that spotlight through political internships.

An internship for Illinois State Sen. Bill Brady [R-44th District] is offering IWU senior Dan George insights. George, a music major from Schaumburg, Ill., said he is learning that government has less to do with political wrangling, and more to do with understanding the needs of people. “As an intern for Senator Brady, I am usually the first contact for his constituents,” said George. “If a resident of the district calls the office to comment on the quality of the roads, I will see that the message gets to the Senator. If someone stops into the office to advocate for the elderly, I will talk with the person to make sure his or her needs are met.”

Brady, who is a 1983 Illinois Wesleyan graduate, said he has found interns vital for research as well as providing another means of support for constituents. “Our interns assist constituents on a day-to-day basis with issues and solving their needs,” said Brady, who has utilized the research of interns on projects such as enhancing retired teacher pensions and promoting higher education projects.

This summer, Illinois Wesleyan junior Monica Shah is seeing not only how political offices run, but campaigns as well. Shah began the summer as an intern for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s [D-Illinois] Chicago office, working with day-to-day operations. Now she is an intern with his presidential campaign. “The word ‘excitement’ does not quite cover it,” said Shah, who is from Downers Grove, Ill. “It’s amazing to speak with so many people who call in to voice their opinion on different decisions or acts, and to know that people are not apathetic, and really are concerned with issues.”

An internship in politics is the first step toward a career in government after graduation, as Illinois Wesleyan alumnus Clint W. Sabin can attest.

Shimizu Appointed Director of International Office

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Stacey Shimizu, who has served as interim director of the International Office at Illinois Wesleyan since the fall of 2006, has been named the office’s director.

IWU Provost and Dean of the Faculty Beth Cunningham announced Shimizu’s appointment, which will be effective immediately.

“Stacey has considerable experience in international study abroad, including serving as assistant to the director of the London Program during the fall of 2003,” said Cunningham. “As acting director, Stacey has completed a review of the IWU London Program, helped administer the implementation of our home-school tuition policy, expanded a program for faculty to receive supplemental funding to review study abroad locations during their international travel, and, as part of the International student Admissions Committee, worked to bring a record 36 new international students to IWU this fall.”

In 1996, Shimizu graduated magna cum laude from Boston University with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. In 1991, she earned a master’s degree in comparative literature from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, where she also received an A.B.D. in the same field of study in 1993. Shimizu has taught in the departments of English at Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Penn., Gettysburg College and Dickinson College, Penn.

Alumna, Students Offer First-Hand Insights Into Ecuador’s Challenges

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The small, South American country of Ecuador made the news last week as the government seized nearly 200 businesses to collect debts from a bank collapse. This move has given rise to fears of a dictatorship surfacing in the democratic republic that has substantial petroleum resources and draws in millions of dollars in foreign investment. However, the news did not shock Illinois Wesleyan University student Rachel Hodel, who spent this past spring studying abroad in the coastal village of Olon, Ecuador.

“It does not surprise me at all,” said Hodel. She believes many of the nation’s problems stem from a high percentage of people there who live in poverty. “In a country that deals with poverty everyday, everyone is struggling and people talk of corruption everywhere,” she said.

For nearly 30 years, Ecuador has been ruled by a civil government that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Factbook said is “marred by political instability.” The economy has suffered as well, with a bank crisis in 1999 that led to the adoption of the U.S. dollar as currency in 2000. Although the move helped stabilize the economy and attract more foreign investors, there was also a downside, according to Kim Priebe. A 2003 Illinois Wesleyan graduate, Priebe taught English classes in Vilcabamba, Ecuador, from 2005 to 2006 as an instructor for World Teach, an organization out of the Harvard Center for National Development.

Once a retreat for Incan royalty, Vilcabamba is a village in the southern region of Ecuador, located in a scenic area known as the Valley of Longevity because of the wide belief that its residents commonly reach 100 years old and beyond. When a New York Times article on Vilcabamba referred to the village as “a jewel,” “suddenly English-speaking investors were pouring into the place,” said Priebe, along with a wave of international settlers who were older and wealthy.

Students Win Scholarships to Study in Japan

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – With the help of nationwide need-based scholarship awards, Illinois Wesleyan University students Celeste Nunez and Tyler Rhodes will spend the fall semester studying in Japan. Nunez, class of ’09, is one of over a thousand students across the United States selected in 2008 to receive the highly competitive Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, which awards an average of $4,000 per winner. Rhodes, class of ’10, will receive funding from the Freeman Awards for Study in Asia, a program that, in the past eight years, has aided over three thousand U.S. undergraduates studying abroad in East and Southeast Asia.

Nunez, a French major, will study with the Institute for International Exchange (IES) at Nanazn University in Nagoya, a port city of two million residents. Rhodes, an international studies major, will spend his semester in Tokyo with the IES Japanese Society and Culture Program offered in connection with Kanda University.

In addition to Nunez and Rhodes, Melanie Bise, a class of ’10 international studies major with a focus on Asian studies, will spend a full year studying at Keio University. Since the fall of 2003, IWU has sent 16 students on semester- or year-long study abroad programs in Japan, three to study in both China and South Korea, and two to study in India.

According to Stacey Shimizu, acting director of the International Office, “Study abroad has immense benefits, not only in terms of students’ academic growth and intellectual engagement but also in that it helps students learn about themselves, their values, and their untapped abilities and competencies. Both the Gilman and Freeman programs bring study abroad within the reach of students for whom it might be too expensive.”

Bradley New Director of Fraternity, Sorority Life and Orientation Services

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Blake Bradley, coordinator of Greek life and student organizations at Arkansas Tech University, has been chosen as the new director of fraternity and sorority life and orientation services at Illinois Wesleyan University. Bradley, who will begin his duties on July 15, succeeds Danielle Kuglin, who has served as director since 2006.

As director of fraternity and sorority life, Bradley will manage the 13 fraternal organizations on campus and serve as primary advisor to the Panhellenic Association, Interfraternity Council, and the Greek honorary organization Order of Omega. Bradley will also be responsible for the coordination of orientation programs for new students and parents through the Office of Orientation Services.

Summer Music Camps Introduce Students to Campus Life

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The idea of summer camp brings to mind images of paddling canoes and roasting marshmallows, but at Illinois Wesleyan University, summer camp means days filled with the sweet sound of strings, the rumble of pianos and the intense training that music camps bring.

Each year Illinois Wesleyan holds summer music camps that draw junior high and high school students from across the nation to the campus. During their two- or three-week stay, campers do more than learn how to perfect their performance; they discover the University.

“For many students, this is their first exposure to college life,” said Illinois Wesleyan Professor of Composition and Theory and Director of the School of Music Mario Pelusi. “Students live in the residence halls, eat in the dining hall and work closely with IWU professors and guest instructors. We have many students attending as college students specifically because they attended one of our programs.” Pelusi estimates that approximately 60 percent of the participants who attend his Summer Music Composition Institute, one of the School of Music’s three summer music programs, apply to and eventually attend Illinois Wesleyan.

“When the students come, they meet the wonderful faculty and see the beautiful campus, and they want to return,” said Associate Professor of Music Nina Gordon, who founded the Cello Camp nine years ago at Illinois Wesleyan, followed by the Illinois Chamber Music Festival and Camp three years later with adjunct faculty member Lisa Nelson. “There is a direct connection with many of the campers who choose to become students.”

Workshop Explores Global View for Campus

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Nearly 40 Illinois Wesleyan faculty and staff gathered last week for Globalizing the IWU Campus, a three-day, on-campus workshop aimed at further integrating a global view into the campus culture.

“When you talk about a ‘global view,’ you are talking about internationalization, which means infusing into the life of the University community the knowledge, attitudes and actions necessary for living in our complex and evolving world,” said the workshop’s keynote speaker, Uliana Gabara, dean of international education at the University of Richmond. “It’s more than simply sending students to study abroad. It’s developing a culture that aims to see study abroad as an extension of what they are seeing and learning on campus.”

Workshop participants discussed how the University should continue to evolve as a global campus, and attended sessions exploring what students need in facing today’s world. “It says right in our Mission Statement that the University ‘affords the greatest possibilities for realizing individual potential while preparing students for democratic citizenship and life in a global society, but the idea of internationalization permeates every part of our mission, from having a ‘spirit of inquiry’ to ‘fostering creativity,’ and it engages everyone in the campus community,’” said Associate Professor of Political Science William Munro, director of the Illinois Wesleyan International Studies Program and member of the workshop organizing committee.

The workshop came at a time when students across the United States are working to learn more about the world they will inherit. The number of U.S. students studying abroad is rising, said Illinois Wesleyan International Office Director Stacey Shimizu, who added that the University is following this trend, recently ranking in the top 40 of the Institute of International Education’s (IIE) Open Doors report. “Most students find they want and need to understand emerging cultures to compete,” said Shimizu.

More than a chance for students to learn about other cultures, global awareness and intercultural skills can be viewed as a necessity for the United States to flourish in a post-September 11th world. “Many in Congress believe we need to establish study abroad as a national goal for our students,” said Sara Nelson, a 2001 Illinois Wesleyan alumna who addressed the workshop. Nelson works for U.S. Sen. Richard J. Durbin, co-sponsor of the Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act, which is attempting to set a goal of sending 1 million U.S. students to study abroad over the next 10 years. “The act was a direct response to 9-11, when we realized we need to know more about the world around us,” said Nelson, who noted the bill is named after Durbin’s mentor and friend, the late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon. “It was Simon who said, ‘the future depends upon globally literate students,’” she added.

Kevin Bryant’s Funeral Scheduled Friday in Batavia

Kevin Bryant, 21, who graduated from Illinois Wesleyan last month and was a three-year varsity basketball player for the Titans, passed away on Sunday, June 8, as a result of injuries suffered in a whitewater rafting accident in Colorado last week. He was taken off life support Sunday at the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, Colo.

Bryant, a Batavia High School product, finished his IWU playing career in March and averaged 1.9 points in 28 career games and started two games in the 2006-07 season when he averaged 2.9 points and 1.2 rebounds.

Bryant’s visitation will be Thursday, June 12 from 2 to 8 p.m. at the Healy Chapel, 370 Division St., Sugar Grove. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, June 13 at Holy Cross Catholic Church, 2300 Main St., Batavia.

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