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Featured Stories Students explore Chippewa River Students present Parkinson's research Students display human evolution research Web site tests leadership skills Center helps students improve writing skills Student Paper Competition winners
Students explore Chippewa River
When Kaylin Hansen and her classmates steered their canoes through the cool water of the Chippewa River last fall, they embarked on a journey that carried them far beyond their English classroom. The students in English professor Danny Patterson’s senior seminar studied the river to better understand the role of “place” in literature. The river then became the lead character in a book co-written by Patterson and his students. “This seminar offers students a very hands-on lesson in how to represent a river in words,” said Patterson. “A place cannot express itself until it inspires a human to know the place intimately and then write that place into existence.” Patterson divided his class of 12 students into six chapter teams. Each student was responsible for writing and illustrating two chapters of the book, “The Chippewa River Watershed: Our Place on Earth.” “Each chapter focuses on one aspect of the Chippewa River Watershed, such as its topography, hydrology, environmental history, ecology, plant and animal species, history of human inhabitation, economic roles, and cultural aspects,” said Patterson. “The final chapter discusses its current conditions and future prospects.” Patterson plans to give copies of the book — free of charge — to area schools, libraries, canoe liveries, and groups such as the Chippewa Watershed Conservancy so that other individuals can benefit from his students’ research. Hansen, a senior from Cheboygan who is majoring in English education, says the project has given her a new perspective on writing. “Creating the watershed book added purpose to my writing,” said Hansen. “Because the book will reach a broader audience than just to be read and graded by a professor, the purpose of writing it went beyond just earning a grade.” The project also helped her gain a new appreciation for nature. “I’ve learned that there are more things to see and discover in nature if you take the time to notice them,” said Hansen. “There is nothing simple about nature. Each piece of it is part of a much bigger concept if you examine it beyond just seeing that it exists.” The students in Patterson’s seminar, ENG 460: The Concept of Place in Literature, also read several river narratives including “Life on the Mississippi” and “A River Runs Through It.” Patterson is printing 1,000 copies of the book, which will be available this spring. The English department and the College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences both have contributed to the publishing costs, with additional funds yet to be raised.
Students in English professor Danny Patterson’s (seated, center) senior seminar are publishing a book about the Chippewa River watershed. Copies of the book will be available this spring.
Students present Parkinson's research Neuroscience professor Justin Oh-Lee traveled to Washington D.C. with 12 of his laboratory students to attend the 35th annual national meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in November. Oh-Lee and the students — the largest contingency of CMU students ever to attend this conference — presented their original research on novel therapeutic and diagnostic strategies for Parkinson’s disease. The students also had opportunities to interact with researchers and fellow students in the neuroscience field. They visited other researchers’ poster displays and attended seminars on topics ranging from molecular genetics to neuroethics. Many of the students also secured interviews for post-doctoral positions, internships, and jobs.
Neuroscience professor Justin Oh-Lee (center) and several of his students traveled to Washington D.C. in November to attend the National Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. Oh-Lee and his students are conducting research on Parkinson’s disease.
Students display human evolution research Students in assistant professor Rachel Caspari’s anthropology seminar had the opportunity to share their research on humans’ early ancestors with the CMU community when they displayed their class projects in CMU’s Park Library in December. The students studied topics related to human evolution and then created posters that summarized or challenged the research. The students examined topics such as how females are portrayed in human evolution research, meat consumption throughout human evolution, and the depiction of Neanderthals in research and popular culture. “Public display allows the dissemination of knowledge and ideas — a major goal of all academic endeavors,” said Caspari. “It also rewards the students’ time and effort.” “The posters encourage a focused approach, help teach hypothesis testing, and help teach students to present their research succinctly.”
Chelsea Mead describes her research project to fellow classmates (from left to right) Erin Westman, Cassandra Jensen, and Sarah Smith.
Web site tests leadership skills A group of CMU psychology graduate students have devised a way to identify good leaders. The result of a year of studying literature and data on leadership culminated in the creation of a Web site designed to help people determine, based on a list of 120 different characteristics, which skills are strengths and in which areas they need to improve. Industrial organizational psychologist Stephen Wagner oversaw the project. “I hope the Web site continues to grow over the years,” said Wagner. “We wanted to make it a very comprehensive model for leadership.” The Web site assessment takes about 20 to 30 minutes to complete. When a person finishes, he or she will see a list of strengths and weaknesses on traits like creativity, communicating, stress management, and forecasting. A development plan for improving weaknesses and leveraging strengths also can be created. The Leadership Competency Model also can be customized for private business and organizations based on the leadership characteristics most valued in each organization. Wagner said he hopes to work with some local businesses and organizations and develop the model as a product. So far, there’s already been interest from CMU’s Leadership Institute as well as a few other on-campus groups. “I wanted to expose the students to the process of developing a product with the hope of turning it around and marketing it, creating products, and going out and consulting in the community,” he said. Graduate students who contributed to the project included Ashwini Bapat, Misty Bennett, Gary Burns, Cathy Bush, Kirsten Gobeski, Sara Langford, Matt Monnot, Brigitte Pfeiffelmann, Brian Siers, and Aaron Stehura. The leadership Web site is located at www.chsbs.cmich.edu/leader_model.
Center helps students improve writing skills The CMU Writing Center helps an average of 60 students improve their writing skills every day. “The Writing Center is founded on the philosophy that writing should be at the center of a college education,” said Mary Ann Crawford, director of the center. The Writing Center began providing help to the whole university community in 1997, after 22 years of being available only to students enrolled in basic writing classes. In eight years, the number of sessions during a semester have gone from 400 to more than 3,000. About 350 students visit the Writing Center every week.
CMU students can visit the Writing Center’s three campus locations or submit papers online. “We’ve grown because of the value of peer feedback for writing and because of the growing demand for writing skills at the university and in professions,” Crawford said. Students who go to the Writing Center represent departments and classes throughout the university. Some classes require students to visit regularly during the semester, but many students go to the center on their own accord. Crawford says students report coming away from sessions feeling more confident about their writing. The Writing Center also provides orientations, writing workshops, and, through a program called “Writing Across the Curriculum,” works with professors to integrate writing into classes across the university. “Students with good writing skills would more readily be able to work in their majors and professions,” Crawford said. The Writing Center employs more than 30 student writing consultants, who must take an intensive training course during their first semester at the center. As well as offering campus services, the Writing Center offers online services for CMU’s off-campus programs. Students may submit work via a Web site and get feedback on areas the consultants identify as needing improvement.
Student Paper Competition winners The College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences is proud to recognize the winners of the 2005 Student Paper Competition. Each graduate winner receives a $750 prize and each undergraduate winner receives a $500 prize. The awards are funded through gifts from faculty, alumni, and friends of CHSBS. Graduate Students Sean Hill “La Pronunicaicion de la/rr/Puertorriquena en Contacto con el Espanol Mexicano de Michigan” Faculty Adviser: Luz Marcela Hurtado, (FLLC) Darren McVittie “The Evolution of the British Music Hall and the Invention of Popular Culture” Faculty Adviser: James Schmiechen, (HST) Mark Soderstrom “Enveloped in a St. Petersburgian Obscurity Russia's ‘Window’ at the Apogee of Empire” Faculty Adviser: James Schmiechen, (HST) Undergraduate Students Sarah Gillam “CINDI: A REALITY TALE” Faculty Adviser: Susan Steffel (ENG) Crystal Ann Harris “From Housewives to Careers: Rethinking Gender Stereotypes in the 1950’s” Faculty Adviser: Kathleen Donohue, (HST) Sandra Russo "Mexico: la pintura y la historia" Faculty Adviser: Krzysztof Kulawik (FLLC) Kristen Ulmanis “Taking Tragedy out of the Tractatus: Disentangling David Rozema from His Own Trap” Faculty Adviser: Jordan Lindberg (PHL & REL)
Giving Opportunities If you are interested in providing financial assistance for the costs of printing the watershed project books or to assist Justin Oh-Lee and his students in conducting research for treatments of Parkinson’s disease, please contact the CHSBS development office at (989) 774-1788 or CHSBS@cmich.edu.
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The main office of CHSBS is located at:106 Anspach Hall, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859 Phone: (989) 774-3341 FAX: (989) 774-7106 E-mail: chsbs@cmich.edu |
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