Baldwin-Wallace faculty and students are engaged in a rich academic life that includes independent and original research, writing, musical and theatrical performance, participation in nation-wide academic organizations, and more. The accomplishments of our professors and students often receive national praise. Here is what some of our community members have done recently:
The following faculty members will take advantage of sabbatical leaves during the 2011-12 academic year to pursue academic interests that will enhance their teaching.
Dr. Gary Christie (Education) will spend an extended amount of time within K-12 schools in an effort to study how children learn math, experiment with new teaching approaches, and evaluate the needs of our schools. He will spend time in classrooms at three grade levels (K-3rd, 4th-7th and 8th-12th) to observe and help teachers prepare and teach lessons and then he will study the effects of these lessons. His experience will be of value in his work teaching B-W Education students how to teach mathematics to students in K-12 schools. His work would also provide the necessary research for future publication and conference presentations.
Dr. Teresa Graham (Math and Computer Science) plans to spend her sabbatical investigating K-8 mathematics education programs at five different institutions: Ashland University, John Carroll University, Portland State University, University of Michigan, and Western Michigan University. She will collect and analyze data that compares the content coverage and academic rigor of mathematics education programs. The data will be used to investigate ways to enhance B-W’s student learning outcomes. She also hopes to increase standardization in B-W courses, continue on-going dialogue with the Education Division faculty teaching methods courses, and increase her abilities as well as those of her colleagues to help produce mathematically competent teachers.
Dr. Denise Kohn (English) will spend her sabbatical conducting archival and online digital research in 17th century colonial literary culture and history, focusing on the Indian captivity narrative of Mary Rowlandson, the first published female prose writer in America. While most scholars see Rowlandson’s well-known narrative as an example of traditional Puritan piety, Kohn will write a scholarly essay showing how Rowlandson uses Biblical citations in a subversive way to align herself with male Old Testament heroes, increasing her authority as a writer in a culture that discouraged women’s public voices. Her work also illustrates the ways that Rowlandson’s narrative relates to the larger genre of English women’s spiritual autobiography that was developing in the late 1600s.
Dr. Michael Melampy (Biology and Geology) has been granted a Fulbright fellowship to teach at the Universidad del Azuay in Cuenca, Ecuador. While there, he will complete two manuscripts for publication pertaining to research projects conducted at Baldwin-Wallace College. At the Universidad del Azuay, Dr. Melampy will also represent a U.S. perspective on how sustainable societies should be built in developing countries. His goal is to build relationships that sustains our student exchange and fosters interest on the part of Azuay faculty in coming to B-W.
Dr. Jacqueline Morris (Biology and Geology) will continue her research on the myelination and demyelination in zebrafish in an effort the help further the understanding of Multiple Sclerosis. Upon the completion of her experiments, Dr. Morris plans to submit two manuscripts for publication pertaining to this research to peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Morris will also spend a significant amount of time working with her collaborators and attending seminars at the Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve University, and the University of Akron. Several B-W undergraduate students will be included as authors in this research thus demonstrating the College’s commitment to involving undergraduate students in real world research. Dr. Morris also plans to present at the Society of Neuroscience meeting in Washington, D.C. in November 2011, and at the International Zebrafish Meeting in Madison, Wisconsin in summer 2012.
Dr. Timothy Mussard (Conservatory of Music) will involve foundation work for a published manual for singers, conductors, operatic coaches, and music historians, documenting the technical challenges of all major dramatic Wagnerian roles (male and female). His proposed work will help establish B-W’s institutional niche of being one-of-a kind in the world of vocal study where two internationally recognized Wagnerian singers reside on the music faculty (the other is B-W professor Jane Eaglen). Professor Mussard will focus on writing a practical manual, “The Wagner Intensive”, for the Wagner Intensive summer training program currently being proposed on B-W’s campus.
Dr. Barbara Sposet (Education) sabbatical goal is to document the educational journey of one rural school’s full transition to the middle school concept. This ethnographic study titled, “The Middle School Concept: Challenges & Opportunities”, will provide her with the opportunity to observe and interact with the administration, faculty and student body at a rural Ohio 6th-8th grade school as it moves to full implementation of the middle school concept. Dr. Sposet will serve as a coach for teachers assisting in developing culturally responsive strategies to address the academic needs of children of poverty as well as those with learning disabilities. This sabbatical experience will enhance Dr. Sposet’s teaching and her students’ preparedness to teach in similar environments.
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Congratulations to Paul Jacklitch and Timothy Mieyal, who were awarded the |
Ovations Faculty Awards – 2011
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