As a special thank you, faculty and staff can enjoy a $5 meal at Hubbell Dining with a Drake Card (ID) on Sept. 10, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Celebrate with your colleagues and enjoy a tasty lunch. For more details, contact 515-271-3175 or dining@drake.edu.
—Submitted by Jennifer Bowersox, Sodexo – Unit Marketing Coordinator
Theatre for social change
Last spring, students from Art of the Interview together with Law, Politics, and Society major Clare VanEchaute interviewed Drake women on campus about their experiences with gender violence. The interviews turned into a series of theatre scenes entitled “How It Goes.” Last spring, the students performed the piece to Roosevelt High School students in Petra Lange’s Women in Literature course, sponsored by the Slay Fund for Social Justice and the Drake Sociology program. We hosted the high school students for breakfast and had a discussion afterwards. We also listened to their poetry readings as part of an exchange.
At Drake’s Welcome Week, “Sex, Drugs, & Drake” included two of the scenes from “How It Goes” into the performance. Alysa Mozak was an advocate for the scenes’ inclusion because they captured the experiences with gender violence on campuses.
The process and theatre piece generated rich learning for students and an opportunity to learn about interviewing, sociological research, an important social issue, and how to use theatre for social change.
—Submitted by Darcie Vandegrift, Associate Professor of Sociology, Department Chair
John Graham elected to VASTA board of directors
John Graham, associate professor of theatre, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA), an international organization dedicated to advancing “the art, research, and visibility of the voice and speech profession.”
—Submitted by John Graham
Drake granted neuroscience honor society charter
Over the summer, Drake was approved to shelter a chapter of Nu Rho Psi, the National Honor Society in Neuroscience. Drake’s is the 53rd charter issued since the society was established in 2006 and the first in Iowa. Brian Sanders, professor of psychology and neuroscience, will be the faculty adviser for the chapter.
Drake has approximately 60 neuroscience students who are active in summer research opportunities at major research institutions and the Drake University Conference on Undergraduate Research in the Sciences (DUCURS).
The decision to issue a charter for Drake was unanimous. Comments from the reviewers included:
Luther W. Stalnaker Lecture
“Freedom to Grieve”
Nancy Berns, Professor of Sociology
Tuesday, Sept. 15, 7 p.m.
Jordan Stage, Sheslow Auditorium
When someone we love dies, we have to make sense of a new world. Nancy explores the challenges people face when learning to live with loss in a culture that pushes the idea of “closure.” People grieving face not only the pain of a loss, but social expectations about how they should grieve.
Consequences follow when we force people to use a universal roadmap for grieving and then judge those who do not follow it as wrong or sick. Nancy will explain how people need freedom to grieve because it is through grieving that we give visibility to the pain felt, the world shattered, the person lost, the joy remembered, and the love continued. She argues that rather than needing “closure,” people can learn to carry joy and grief together.
Reception to follow in the Madelyn M. Levitt Hall of Honor.
Enjoy a night under the stars at the Drake Municipal Observatory this Friday, Sept. 11, as the fall 2015 Public Night Series kicks off. The theme for the series this fall is “What’s New in System Sol?” and Friday’s event is titled “Those were the Days.” The Observatory is located on the grounds of the Waveland Golf Course at 4908 University Ave. in Des Moines. For the full schedule and to learn more about the Observatory, visit the Observatory’s website.
Drake University’s Anderson Gallery will open its new season with “Ideas at War: American Propaganda Posters of World War II,” an exhibition featuring more than 50 original wartime posters from the collection of the State Historical Museum of Iowa. The exhibition, curated by John Fender, designer and associate professor of graphic design at Drake, will open on Friday, Sept. 11, with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Anderson Gallery in Drake’s Harmon Fine Arts Center. “Ideas at War” will remain on display through Oct. 23.
Parents & Family Weekend will be held at Drake Sept. 25–27. Learn more about this exciting weekend.
Student Success Coordinator Bryan Thomas is now working out of the Black Cultural Center (BCC) Monday¬–Thursday from 1 to 6 p.m. and on Fridays from 2 to 5 p.m. In addition to working out of the BCC during scheduled times, Bryan will continue to office in Old Main, Room 319C. Bryan will be working out of the BCC in order to give current and prospective students additional, informal access to the cultural centers. Outside of Bryan’s office hours in the BCC, students will also be able to check out keys to any one of Drake’s three cultural centers (Black Cultural Center, La Casa, and La Caya) through the Student Life Center located in the Olmsted Center.
Students who wish to use the cultural centers for meetings and/or events should submit an event request via Drake’s new Virtual Event Management System (VEMS). Please note that only student organizations’ presidents and their designees (one designee per student organization) can submit event requests via VEMS on behalf of their student organization.
On behalf of the Divisions of Student Life and Academic Excellence and Student Success, we look forward to this new initiative!
Contact & programming information for Bryan Thomas:
Old Main, Room 319C
Phone: 515-271-2029
Email: bryan.thomas@drake.edu
www.drake.edu/crewscholarsprogram/
www.drake.edu/crewblog
alumni.drake.edu/crewscholarsprogram
Student Life Center:
Olmsted Center
Phone: 515-271-3711
www.drake.edu/studentinvolvement/
About the Writing Workshop: Peer tutors staff the workshop, all of whom have taken at least one training course to familiarize themselves with writing theory and pedagogy. Tutors help students identify areas of difficulty and work with them on a range of issues including fluency, organization, development, analysis, and argument. Tutors also help students copyedit their work as needed. Tutors do NOT write papers for students, nor do they simply act as proofreaders. All work on development and copy reading takes place within the context of the student’s own writing.
How to sign up: Students can sign up at https://library.drake.edu/writing . This site is also linked to on the English website. The website itself will give students directions on how to proceed. Typically, an appointment is for 30 minutes. Students can sign up for more than one session if they choose. They may also request that a tutor keep a regular time slot available for them if they would like to come in each week. If students are having difficulty signing up, they should call the Writing Workshop at 271-4712. They could also email me with any concerns (jody.swilky@drake.edu).
Location: The Writing Workshop is located in Cowles Library, Room 47, on the lower level. Hours are available:
Communication with professors: If you refer your student to the workshop, please let us know via email (jody.swilky@drake.edu). Have them bring the assignment they are responding to, as well as any writing they have done to complete the assignment. As part of the first visit, tutors always ask students if they have been referred. If a student is referred, the tutor will send an email letting you know that your student has attended and will briefly describe what work was done. If you do not receive an email from us, your student did not attend. If a student attends on his or her own, we do not inform professors unless the student specifically asks us to.
Workshop services: In addition to tutoring students, workshop tutors are available to speak briefly to classes about the workshop. If you would like a tutor to come to your class, please call or email me. Please also feel free to call or email me with questions about writing, working with students for whom English is not a first language, or with questions about any student who is having particular difficulty with writing. You can also learn more about the workshop in the Writing Workshop brochure.
—Submitted by Jody Swilky, the Elle and Nelle Levitt Professor of English, Writing Workshop Director
Faculty advising students who have taken the language placement examination can now access the advisees’ placement score, the levels students placed into, their major(s), and other relevant information quickly, which may be useful during registration. This information can be found on the Adviser Menu on MyDusis under the link “Language Score and Placement.” Student information can be accessed either by entering the student’s Drake ID number or from a drop-down menu.
—Submitted by Marc Pinheiro-Cadd, Director of World Languages and Cultures
Cowles Library now offers digital access to the entire archives of Vogue and Women’s Wear Daily in high-resolution, full-color digital format. Each page of every issue is available, including advertisements. Users are able to search all text, captions, and titles throughout the magazine, including advertisements, covers, and foldouts. These resources are ideal for the study of diverse topics including fashion, gender studies, marketing, and social history.
More information can be found on the Cowles Library blog.
—Submitted by Marc Davis, Coordinator, Program Staff Services, Planning & Projects