Category Archives: Faculty

Russian Scholars to Explore Childhood Around the Globe

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University will welcome a delegation of scholars from Russia as part of “Childhood & Globalization: An International Colloquium” from Sept. 13-17.

The colloquium will consist of readings and discussions with scholars principally from Illinois Wesleyan, Illinois State University (ISU) and the Russian State University for the Humanities (RGGU) in Moscow. Several sessions are free and open to the public. The event is sponsored by Illinois Wesleyan’s Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL), the International Studies program at IWU, the Isaac Funk Foundation and the ISU Department of English.

Altogether, eight scholars from Russia will take part in the colloquium, which will focus on children’s literature and politics of childhood around the globe. The Russian scholars are from RGGU and St. Petersburg State University of Culture and Arts. Co-organizers for the colloquium are Illinois Wesleyan faculty members Isaac Funk Professor of Russian Studies Marina Balina and Associate Professor of French and Italian Scott Sheridan.

“United by a desire to investigate such a multifaceted subject as childhood around the globe, our colloquium attempts to address many different aspects of this issue – from the politics of childhood and its historical context, to literary production and various cultural practices and depictions of children in different forms of media,” said Balina.

Nadeau Named to New Endowed Professorship

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University’s Professor of Hispanic Studies and Chair of the Hispanic Studies Department Carolyn Nadeau was announced as the inaugural Byron S. Tucci Professor on Friday at the University’s annual Fall Breakfast.

Tucci, a 1966 Illinois Wesleyan graduate with a double major in business administration and economics, has been a long-time supporter of Illinois Wesleyan, serving on the Leadership Giving Board for decades. He is also a member of the Illinois Wesleyan Associates and the IWU Board of Trustees. Tucci established the named professorship as part of the Transforming Lives campaign for Illinois Wesleyan.

“Named professorships honor faculty who have distinguished themselves in terms of teaching, research, and service,” said University President Richard F. Wilson. “Dr. Nadeau certainly exemplifies all that makes an outstanding professor.”

Professors Seek Beauty, Truth in Translated Works

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The great works of literature can be called more than a collection of masterfully crafted words. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is more than a rhythmic story about a dour prince. Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina is more than the well-written tale of a suicidal woman. Great writing can convey the culture, dreams, norms and challenges of a society, but making sure the message is clear can depend upon the right translation.

How can a reader find a “good” translation of literature? Several Illinois Wesleyan University faculty members recently weighed in on the subject of translations.

“Translation is a work of art,” said Marina Balina, the Isaac Funk Professor of Russian Studies. “It is more than choosing the right words. It’s an art form that definitely requires the soul of the artist.” Balina worked with Professor of English Emeritus James McGowan on the translations of poems by German poet Wolfgang Borchert. “Translation is like a sculpture, basically shaping up the material like it was clay, and then refining it,” agreed McGowan, who is known for his translations of the French poet Charles Baudelaire. “Just because the words are similar from one language to another, it does not mean the meaning is similar.”

The art of translation may begin with finding the English equivalent, but it then requires going a step beyond, said Balina. “You can build from a beautiful sentence that is close to what the writer is saying, but the cultural barrier remains,” she said. “A translator can be blinded by his or her own knowledge of literature and culture.” Balina remembered reading sonnets of Shakespeare in English for the first time. “I thought, ‘This was not the Shakespeare I have read in Russian translation’,” she said. “I read writers in Soviet Russia, who were translating because they could not get their own work published because of the harsh censorship by government. They have used the art of translation to convey their own frustration and ideals through Shakespeare’s works.”

Students Take Poetry Off of the Page

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – A class at Illinois Wesleyan University recently pulled poetry off the page and placed it into the community.

One of the May Term sections of Introductory to Creative Writing challenged students to not only write poetry and fiction, but to come up with ways of sharing it in the community.

“In the class, we talk a lot about why creative writing is important, and why it is out there. I wanted the students to have the chance to see more than just their own responses to the work,” said Brandi Reissenweber, an adjunct faculty member who was the instructor of the four-week class. May Term is a time when students can take intensive classes within the compressed time period, as opposed to the usual 16-week semester.

The project, called Act of Art, required students to write several works individually, then come together in groups to decide what pieces should be presented to the public, and how their work should be disseminated, said Reissenweber.

Several ideas came to fruition – including plastering a car with poetry and fiction and parking it in various spots around town; and holding a lemonade stand on the Constitution Trail with poetry pasted to the cups. “We thought that a lemonade stand would be a good idea since it was a hot month of May,” said Elise Anderson, a sophomore from Wheaton, Ill. She and fellow student Nicole Taylor led a group of students who wrote poetry in chalk to draw people to the stand, and then gave out lemonade with their poetic creations attached to the cups. “Most people who approached us seemed very interested in our project. They liked to ask questions. Some people even saved the poems that were on the cups.”

Taylor, a sophomore from Lake Zurich, Illinois, remembered one man who came up to to the table after he had his lemonade. “He walked past us after throwing away his cup and held out the part of my poem that was taped on his cup and he said, ‘I am going to pin this on my wall. This is a really good thing you guys are doing,’” said Taylor, who is a biology major. “We all thought that it was really special how he was impacted by our work and appreciated what we were doing.”

Professor Publishes Statistics Textbook

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University Associate Professor of Economics Robert Leekley had a problem. As an instructor of introductory statistics for economics for more than 30 years, the longer Leekley taught, the more disillusioned he became with textbooks available for his course.

“I felt textbooks in this field were headed in the wrong direction,” said Leekley from his office in the Center for Liberal Arts on campus. “They were increasingly written so that instructors could pick and choose topics in any order they pleased. That might seem desirable, but then students lose any sense of continuity.”

To remedy that fault, Leekley created his own textbook years ago to use in class. This month, his insights are available to a larger audience. Leekley has published his work as a new textbook titled Applied Statistics for Business and Economics (CRC Press, 2010).

“Statistics is really just a few key ideas applied differently to different data,” Leekley said. “My goal for the textbook was to bring out the connections.”

New Endowed Funds Support School of Nursing

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – President Richard F. Wilson announced two new endowment funds for the Illinois Wesleyan University School of Nursing at a dinner Saturday, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the awarding of bachelor of nursing science degrees on campus. The funds are part of the ongoing Transforming Lives: The Campaign for Illinois Wesleyan.

The two funds, the Donna Hartweg Endowed Scholarship and the Sandra Futhey Rice Endowment Fund, will support the School of Nursing.

This year marks the retirement of the former director of the School of Nursing, Donna Hartweg, who is also the Caroline F. Rupert Professor Emeritus of Nursing. In her honor, alumni, friends and family established the endowed scholarship in her name. The scholarship will offer financial support to one nursing student each year. So far, there have been more than 100 contributions to the scholarship fund.

“You have given me the highest honor I could ask for with this endowed scholarship,” said Hartweg.

The ongoing success of the School of Nursing is the focus of a new fund from alumna Sandra Rice, a 1977 graduate. It was announced at the dinner that Rice and her husband, Louis, established the Sandra Futhey Rice Endowment Fund to provide overall support for the School of Nursing.

Terkla Named Winner of Kemp Teaching Award

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University Professor of English Dan Terkla has been named the 2011 winner of the Kemp Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence on Wednesday, April 14, at the annual Honors Convocation in Westbrook Auditorium of Presser Hall. The award, the University’s highest teaching honor, is bestowed annually to a faculty member.

Provost Beth Cunningham said of this year’s winner that when he was hired in 1995, Illinois Wesleyan English Department members were betting Terkla would be “an active scholar, the finest teacher and a valued colleague. There is no doubt they won that bet,” she said.

Cunningham added many students have commented on Terkla for his knowledge, his meaningful classroom discussions, and the quality of his instruction. “He teaches for life,” Cunningham said, recounting one student’s assessment of Terkla that he “does not just pass on knowledge, but instills passion.”

Faculty Member Honored by Marketing Management Association

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University’s Associate Professor of Business Administration Fred Hoyt has been named the 2010 Fellow of the Marketing Management Association (MMA).

The MMA is a global association dedicated to developing more effective marketing educators and scholars. Founded in 1977, the MMA explores ways in which marketing advances can be implemented effectively in the classroom, in research and in business. The MMA Fellow is recognized for scholarly contributions to the marketing discipline.

Hoyt, who joined the Illinois Wesleyan faculty in 1987, has written more than 50 articles in a variety of areas including marketing services, marketing history and marketing education. He serves as the faculty advisor to the Illinois Wesleyan chapters of the American Marketing Association Club and the marketing honorary society Alpha Mu Alpha.

Professor’s Book Explores Health Care Debate

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Even with the passage of the recent bill, the debate over health care in America continues. Illinois Wesleyan University Associate Professor of Political Science Greg Shaw tackles the debate in his new book, The Healthcare Debate (Greenwood Press, 2010), which is due to be published in April as part of the Greenwood Press’ Historical Guides to Controversial Issues in America series.

Shaw’s book examines how recent events play into the picture of the debate over health care in America, from government and insurance involvement, and the evolution of Medicare and Medicaid, to the rise and fall of the Clinton healthcare plan, and the recent struggles toward a health-care system.

“Health care is intimate for people. As opposed to how we build interstate highways or national parks, how people get their health care is something about which they care passionately, but do not fully understand,” said Shaw. “This will remain a dominant issue for the current generation, and well into the foreseeable future.”

Economic Downturn a ‘Teaching Moment’

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – While the current recession is causing financial woes, it is offering an opportunity for economics and business administration professors at Illinois Wesleyan University to connect with students.

“As they say in academia, this is a great teaching moment,” said Chair of the Economics Department Diego Mendez-Carbajo. “It is providing a wealth of real-life examples of what we have been teaching all along.”

Teaching about unemployment and inflation can be difficult in an economically successful country, said Mendez-Carbajo. “When you try to teach to our students that inflation is a problem, but the economy has been going for 10 consecutive years with low levels of inflation, no one believes you,” he said. “It’s ironic, but a recession can be perceived as a blessing for teaching economics because it can put things into perspective.”

The lessons being taught in classes have not changed, but the economic downturn is providing students with a new awareness. “I’ve always talked about the ups and downs of the business cycle,” said Professor of Business Administration Bill Walsh, who teaches courses on management and human resources. “The only difference now is that students aren’t thinking of these cycles in terms of history anymore.”

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