Faculty Notes

Highlighter & Laureate,
Fall 2003

Colleagues recognized for years of service
The following College of Liberal Arts & Education faculty and staff were honored by the University for their years of dedication and service to the University. UDM colleagues were recognized for milestones ranging from 40 years to 10 years:

30 Years
Bernard Green, professor of Psychology
Thomas Schad, assistant professor of Economics

25 Years
Vivian I. Dicks, professor of Communication Studies
John T. Franklin, professor of Counseling & Addiction Studies
Robert J. Homant, professor of Sociology & Criminal Justice

15 Years
Nancy L. Gibney, assistant professor of Education

10 Years
Lisa B. MacDonnell, administrative assistant, College of Liberal Arts & Education
Stephen Manning, associate professor of Political Science
Carol Stoecklin, RSM, assistant dean, College of Liberal Arts & Education
Gregory D. Sumner, professor of History
Michael J. Witkowski, associate professor of Sociology & Criminal Justice

Gloria Albrecht, professor of Religious Studies, presented her book Hitting Home, a discussion of "Feminist Ethics, Women’s Work, and the Betrayal of ‘Family Values’" to the University community on November 6. The discussion was hosted by the Women’s Studies Program. As part of the book discussion, Libby Balter Blume, associate professor of Psychology, addressed the impact of anti-family policies on children’s development.

Arthur Beer (photo right), professor of Theatre, and Mary Bremer, adjunct instructor of Theatre, led a company of 25 students, teachers and professionals last June and July in a month-long study abroad program in Greece. This is their 16th year for this trip. Bremer directed and Beer acted in The Long Way Home, a musical version of The Odyssey, which the company performed at three amphitheaters. In August and September, for the fifth year in a row, Beer and Bremer were the Baron and Baroness of Vulgaria at the Michigan Renaissance Festival, where they hosted a comic version of Hamlet at the castle, between courses of a Renaissance meal. The show, written and directed by Beer, featured two UDM students and three UDM graduates. In addition, Beer is currently preparing his adaptations of 10 Greek classics for publication.

Libby Balter Blume (photo right), associate professor of Psychology, co-authored two of the 20 chapters selected by peer reviewers from among 73 proposals for the forthcoming Sourcebook of Family Theory and Research. A special collection of invited papers and commentaries on feminism and family science methodology, with an introduction by Blume and affiliated faculty in the UDM Women’s Studies Program, was also accepted for publication in the Journal of Family Issues.

Mary Bremer, adjunct instructor of Theatre, is appearing in The Home Team, by local playwright Kim Carney, at the Performance Network in Ann Arbor. She also runs the Dearborn Youth Theatre.

Nancy Calley, assistant professor of Counseling and Addiction Studies and director of Counseling, presented the paper “Instituting Solution-Focused Practices in Child Welfare” at the Michigan Counseling Association’s annual conference in October.

Roy Finkenbine, professor of History, published a revised and expanded second edition of Sources of the African American Past. The book, published by Longman, presents a view of the African American experience from West Africa to the present. In October, Finkenbine presented a paper at a conference of British and American historians of 19th century America at Madingley Hall in Cambridge, England. The intent of the conference was to assess and shape the state of the field of 19th century American history. Finkenbine was also part of a panel on “Black Heroes in Nineteenth-Century America” and is one of only 90 historians invited to attend the conference.

Philip Fortier, adjunct professor of Philosophy, presented “A Model of Divinity: Eros in Plato's Lysis and Symposium” at the 21st World Congress of Philosophy in Istanbul, Turkey in August. The paper is about Plato’s view of the relationship between friendship and divine love.

Heather Hill-Vasquez, assistant professor of English, recently published the article “Reforming Response: Reception Aesthetics in the Chester Cycle” in Publications of the Medieval Association of the Midwest.

Robert Homant and Daniel Kennedy, professors of Sociology and Criminal Justice, recently had their research published in the October issue of Security Journal, an international journal devoted to issues of security in a cross-cultural context. The study focused on the relationship between institutional climate and workplace aggression.

Tom Kolpacki, adjunct professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice, recently represented the Ann Arbor Police Department at a weeklong training session in Washington, D.C. Detective Kolpacki was selected by the National Institute of Justice from among several area candidates. The training will help Kolpacki in his current role on a regional task force combating computer crime of various types, such as predatory pedophiles on the internet.

David Koukal, assistant professor of Philosophy and director of the University Honors Program, was invited to moderate a panel at the 28th annual meeting of the International Merleau-Ponty Circle which met in September at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario.

Judy A. McCown, associate professor of Psychology, presented the papers “Social Support and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in Korean American Women” and “Predictors of Psychological Distress Among Korean American Women” at the annual American Psychological Conference in Toronto, Canada. McCown also published the chapter “Primary Prevention of Schizophrenic Expression” in the Encyclopedia of Primary Prevention and Health Promotion.

Isaiah McKinnon (photo right), associate professor of Education, published In the Line of Duty: A tribute to fallen law enforcement officers from the State of Michigan. The book tells a story of over 500 officers since 1846 who were killed in the line of duty in Michigan.

Jane Schaberg, professor of Religious Studies, edited On the Cutting Edge: the Study of Women in Biblical Worlds, a Festschrift in honor of Professor Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza of Harvard University. The volume contains essays from scholars from throughout the world and was presented at the November meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Atlanta. The volume also includes Schaberg’s chapter, “Magdalene christianity.” Schaberg also gave a workshop on recent studies of the figure of Mary Magdalene at the Naropa Center in Oakland, Calif.

Gregory Sumner (photo right), professor of History, is the emcee for the ongoing series of classic films at the Redford Theatre.

Carol Weisfeld, professor of Psychology and board member of Riverfront East Alliance (REAL), received the 2003 Clearwater Citizens Award from The Waterfront Center, an international organization promoting sensitive, site-specific waterfront planning and development, at its conference in Montreal, Canada in September. REAL was recognized for its commitment to the recent planning of Detroit’s Riverfront Vision.

Harry Veryser (photo right) ’66, ’83, ’84, adjunct professor of Economics, received the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s Will Herberg Award for Faculty Service. The award was established to recognize faculty members who are outstanding role models for college students and whose scholarship ranges beyond their own disciplines to touch upon matters of contemporary civic and cultural concern. Veryser is one of 10 recipients nationwide to receive the award this year.

Kathleen Zimmerman-Oster (photo right), associate professor of Psychology, presented her studies, “Leadership In the Making” and “Leadership Reconsidered,” last July at the University of Richmond (Va.), Jepson School of Leadership National Leadership Symposium.