Gloria Albrecht, professor of Religious Studies, is celebrating her retirement after 16 years of service at UDM.

Barbara Bolz, assistant professor of Communication Studies, is celebrating her retirement after 20 years of service at UDM.

Yolanda Fleischer, associate professor of Performing Arts, recently served at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills as a narrator for a new exhibit devoted to the "Kindertransport," the British effort in 1939 to save Jewish children from Nazi Germany and Austria. Fleischer also gave a lecture on "Senior Theatre," a growing trend around the country, at the Adult Learning Institue at Oakland Community College in September.

Mary-Catherine Harrison, assistant professor of English, wrote the article, "The paradox of fiction and the ethics of empathy: reconceiving Dickens's realism," which was published in Narrative.

Elizabeth Hill was promoted to professor of Psychology with the start of the 2008-2009 academic year.

Clinton Hirst, professor of English, is celebrating his retirement after 36 years of service at UDM.

Daniel Kennedy, professor of Sociology & Criminal Justice, is celebrating his retirement after 31 years of service at UDM. He was also honored with the title professor emeritus.

David Koukal, associate professor of Philosophy, authored "The necessity of communicating phenomenological insights—and its difficulties," which was published in Meaning and Language: Phenomenological Perspectives, in the Phaenomenologica Series, Vol. 187 by Springer Academic Publishing.

Judy McCown, associate professor of Psychology, and Julie Kwon, a graduate of the Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, gave the presentation, "Predictions of somatization among Korean American women," at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, in Boston on Aug. 14.

Isaiah McKinnon, associate professor of Education, was the keynote speaker for the Moving Toward Solutions Conference, held by the Michigan Department of Community Health, Aug. 26 in Dearborn. McKinnon was also a guest of St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, Canada for their Emancipation Celebration on Aug. 1.

Gail Mitchell, associate professor of Performing Arts, presented five songs by women composers at the Birmingham Musicale, Oct. 9 at the Birmingham Community House. In honor of United Nations Day (Oct. 24), the program included English, French and American songs and arrangements.

Christine Panyard, professor of Psychology, signed a memorandum of agreement with Paulist Press to publish her book, A Pilgrimage to the Sistine Chapel: Celebrating 500 Years under the Ceiling of Michelangelo. The book integrates Michelangelo's paintings with their foundations in Scripture.

Nicholas Rombes, professor of English, wrote the article, "The rebirth of the author," which originally appeared in CTheory and has been recently reprinted in the book, Critical Digital Studies: A Reader, published by the University of Toronto Press.

Barbara Schirmer, professor of Education, authored the article, "How effectively are we preparing teacher educators in special education?: the case of deaf education," which was published in the fall issue of American Annals of the Deaf. Schirmer also delivered a keynote address at the University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece, Oct. 18 and presented a paper at the Education Conference of the Association for Behavior Analysis International, Sept. 5 in Reston, Va.

Daniel Shoemaker, professor of Computer & Information Systems, was a featured keynote speaker at ITEC Detroit, an IT educational conference held in Novi, Mich., May 21-22.  Shoemaker's presentation, "Information Security in 2008 and Beyond: Overcoming the Next Threat," was covered in a Great Lakes IT Report article.

Tom Stanton, assistant professor of Communication Studies, received the Michigan Author of the Year Award Friday, Oct. 24, in Kalamazoo. The award is given by the Michigan Center for the Book and was presented at the annual convention of the Michigan Library Association. Stanton's most recent book is Ty and The Babe (2008, St. Martin's). Previous recipients of the award include Elmore Leonard and Charles Baxter.

Gregory Sumner, professor of History, presented "People of the Great Depression," a series of film and discussion programs in October and November at the Rochester Hills Public Library.  The series presented the documentary films, A Job at Ford's, Surviving the Dust Bowl, Public Enemy #1, and Riding the Rails.

Joseph A. Weglarz, instructor and director of the undergraduate program in UDM's Department of Economics at Macomb University Center, presented the paper, "San Bernardino: Early Defender of the Entrepreneur," at the 35th annual meeting of the History of Economics Society, June 29 at York University (Toronto). Bernardino's De Contractibus et Usuris was used to explain the economic contributions of this Catholic philosopher and moral theologian.

Michael Witkowski, associate professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice, was a panelist at Seattle's Museum of History & Industry, Oct. 4.  The panel discussed issues raised in a documentary that premiered that night, Illicit Exchanges: Canada, the U.S. & Crime.