WESTERN SOCIETY
The Official Newsletter of the Sociology and Anthropology
Department
Fall 2015
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR
We had exciting developments this year, some of which are featured in this newsletter. Our department
has again offered a variety of courses in Macomb, at WIU-QC, and online. In these courses, our professors
and instructors have kept our students very up-to-date with current developments in Sociology and
Anthropology. And while doing this, they made it a point to
show during class, numerous thought provoking videos,
documentaries, and films, along with assigning our students to
complete intriguing exercises, reviews, papers, and research
projects. As well, our department recently had highly positive
program reviews of our: two undergraduate majors (Sociology;
Anthropology); graduate major in Sociology. Furthermore, in
current assessment reports, student learning in these three
majors and in our General Education classes—was similarly
found to be very favorable as a whole. To sum up, our
department is indeed a great place to study Sociology and
Anthropology as a major or minor and for general interest as
elective courses. Please contact me Dr. John F. Wozniak, jfwozniak@wiu.edu if you would like to have more specific
information or have questions about any of our programs of
study.
Dr. John F. Wozniak
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
Dr. Oswald S. Warner “Roots and Routes:
The Global African Diaspora in Trinidad”
During his sabbatical, Dr. Warner focused on
researching the significance of geographical mobility
as a historical dimension of identity formation of
peoples of the Global African diaspora. Furthermore,
his research is to demonstrate how, for the New
World African descent communities, migration and
the phenomenon we call “circulatoriness” are more
associated with the “Global African Personality” or
social identity formation. Trinidad is not necessarily
unique in comparison to other island societies of the
Caribbean in this respect. In many ways it is very
representative of other people and places. However, it
can be seen as one model within the Caribbean to
assess the nature of demographic restructuring over
time and at important historical moments up to the
present.
Dr. Andrea Alveshere
Received Summer Stipend
This past summer Dr. Alveshere was in the field
locating sites for research projects to study the
effect of different decomposition rates on skeletal
remains. Her students are currently working at the
Taphonomic Research Site and able to have the
opportunity to do full environmental assessments.
Eventually they will be working with the School of
Agriculture so that when an animal that dies, she
will transport it to one site so they can watch (with
trail cameras) how the wildlife interacts with the
remains, and the decomposition process. Bones will
then be collected to see what kinds of markings
have been produced in the process. This is very
relevant to forensic anthropology and to the
archaeological interpretation of skeletal remains.
FACULTY RESEARCH
Dr. Tawnya Adkins Covert is working on the final chapters of a coauthored book on Political
Socialization with Philo Wasburn, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Purdue University - titled Making
Citizens: Political Socialization Research and Beyond
Dr. Andrea Alveshere currently has several students doing research projects on samples and data
collected from our new Taphonomic Research Sites (see Faculty Spotlight on page 1).For more
information see: http://www.wiu.edu/cas/chemistry/faculty/alveshere/taphonomic_research.php
Dr. Patrick McGinty helped a community development organization win money for a USDA summer
food program and then spent the summer serving free breakfast and lunch to children throughout
southwestern Fulton County.
Dr. John F. Wozniak will present a paper at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology,
titled "Environmental Racism as Criminal Conduct: Implications for Peacemaking and Green
Criminology” in Washington DC on November 2015.
STUDENT RECOGNITION
Congratulations
Scholarship Recipients



Zachary M. Young received the Harriet Stull Award
Shaquita Fuller received the Kara Leigh Broughton
Memorial Scholarship
Abby Beck received the Dr. Kenneth and Prof. Chris
Adamski-Mietus Sociological Masters Scholarship
for Graduate Studies
Congratulations
Shyan Edwards won 1st Place
Podium Presentation at the 2nd
Annual Graduate Research Day
Conference
Congratulations Alpha Kappa Delta Inductees
Inductees include Alex J. Breckenridge, Matthew Devine, Shyan Edwards, Shaquita
J. Fuller, Andrea Jones, Megan N. Rosenak, Evan Swanson, Nathaniel Thompson,
Lexis Thurman, and Monserrat Zepada.
Summer Abroad Opportunity
"Stories of India" is a two-week class that will focus
on the role of food in the exile Tibetan community
located in the Himalayan city of Dharamsala. This
Tibetan enclave in northern India has been the home
of the Dalai Lama in since his exile from Tibet in
1959. Students will explore what it means to be an
exile forced to live in a culture that is not your own.
Eating our way through India, we will explore the
role of food in retaining cultural identity.
In addition to time spent in Dharamsala, we will also
explore the old city in New Dehli, and visit the
Golden Temple in Amritsar and the Lotus Temple. All
students are welcome! The course is available for
undergraduate and graduate credit - ANTH 379/679
(3 credit hrs).
Scholarships are also available. See Dr. Heather McIlivaine-Newsad in 408 Morgan Hall or email her at hmcilvaine-newsad@wiu.edu if you are interested in finding out more about this course. This is the third
time Dr. Heather McIlvaine-Newsad and Dr. Sarah Haynes will be leading a study abroad together.
Noteworthy
The Integrated Baccalaureate and Master of Arts Degree Program (IBMP) in Sociology provides an
opportunity for outstanding undergraduate Sociology majors to complete both Bachelor and Master of Arts
(BA and MA) degrees in five years. Typically, the baccalaureate degree requires four years to complete and
a master’s degree requires an additional minimum of two years. The goals of the program are to teach
students discipline specific history, theory, and methods as well as to develop critical thinking and
technical skills in utilizing the sociological perspective for understanding the social world and affecting
positive change.
Alumni Spotlight
My name is Jeff Hamer, Lieutenant with the Macomb (IL) Police Department. I stumbled into my sociology
major after I enrolled in a few sociology courses to fulfill catalog requirements. As I progressed through college,
I took more sociology courses until my advisor suggested picking it up as a major. I believe my sociology
education has helped my career in that I have a firm understanding of people, their motivation, how society is
structured, as well as an appreciation for people and their experiences. In policing, these skills help me connect,
communicate, and impact the lives of victims, witnesses, and suspects.
APPLIED SOCIOLOGY
Abby Beck will be working
this fall on collecting data
for her thesis titled “Using
the Board Game “The Last
Straw:
The
Social
Determinants of Health” as
a Pedagogical Method in the
Sociology Classroom.” The
game involves teams, that
construct a profile by rolling
the die to determine social
statuses such as gender,
race, and socioeconomic
status of their
team
character.
Teams
are
allocated a certain amount
of vitality chips depending
on their different social
statuses. Events happen as
each team rolls the die.
Abby looks forward to
examining
students'
perceptions of the game,
and whether or not they
think the game helped them
to
better
understand
sociological
concepts.
Contact Abby via email at
as-beck@wiu.edu to find
out more.
Students in Dr. Lora Ebert
Wallace's health-related classes
often participate in servicelearning volunteerism as their
class project. This semester,
some students in Sociology of
Mental Health (SOC 424G) are
volunteering with Macomb Parks
Special
Recreation.
These
students assist with recreational
classes and activities for those
living with mental health
diagnoses
(go
to
http://www.mcsra.com for more
information).
Next semester (S2016), students
enrolled in Sociology of Health &
Illness (SOC 365) will have the
option of volunteering with the
WIU Disability Resource Center's
Celebrating Disability Culture
Day. Contact Dr. Ebert Wallace at
le-wallace2@wiu.edu for more
information.
Students in the Sociology of Aging
(405G) class are involved in a
service-learning project at two
local nursing homes. After
viewing the documentary “Alive
Inside” which shows how
Alzheimer’s patients become
isolated, students recognized that
even those elderly who did not
have the disease but were living
in nursing homes could feel
detached. In the film, after being
given IPods loaded with music
meaningful to each patient, there
was a dramatic improvement in
their lives. The documentary
inspired the students to adapt the
general idea to help improve the
social well-being of residents.
Feeling cut off is associated with
a reduced quality of life. While
physical interaction is preferred,
it is not always possible;
therefore they used music to help
create a connection. They are still
in the midst of the project but are
excited to see the outcome. More
information can be found by
contacting Prof. Chris Adamski at
CA-Adamski@wiu.edu
Interested in learning more about the Sociology and Anthropology department?
Contact 309-298-1056
Who Would Have Guessed?
Who
Faculty were asked, “If you were not an academician,
what would you be?” To be fair, some were asked for
their dream job, others were asked what job they
would be doing, which might account for the fantasy
versus predictable answers. But who knows?
Can you match the faculty member with his or her answer?
1. John F. Wozniak
2. Lora Wallace
3. Oswald Warner
4. Beate Wilson
5. Craig Tollini
6. Diane Sandage
7. Heather McIlvaine-Newsad
8. Elgin Mannion
9. Robert Hironimus-Wendt
10. Gordon Chang
11.Davison Bideshi
12. Pat Anderson
13. Alyssa Anderson
14. Andrea Alveshire
15. Tawnya Adkins Covert
16. Chris Adamski
a. Pop star or D.J.
b. Car Mechanic, Carpenter
c. Supreme Court Justice or Broadway Musicals
d. Travel & Food Writer or Yoga Instructor
e. Album and Concert Reviewer for the Rolling Stone
f. Window Dresser for Macy’s
g. Own a Multi-purpose Venue Coffee Shop
h. Accountant
i. Park Ranger
j. Cooking, Gardening or Woodworking Career
k. Animal Trainer
l. Farmer
m. F.B.I. Agent
n. Travel Writer
o. Documentarian
p. Civil Rights Lawyer
Check out the bulletin board near the main office MG 404 for the answers
or email CA-Adamski@wiu.edu to find out who said what.
The Western Anthropology and Sociology
Club (WASC) sponsors activities throughout
the academic year. WASC members are
undergraduate Sociology and Anthropology
students who work with department faculty
and graduate students to plan events such as
inviting guest speakers for campus programs;
hosting career workshops (on job and
internship searches, résumé-writing, etc.),
social events like food, film, and music nights;
and organizing other activities relevant to the
fields of Sociology and Anthropology.
For more information, please contact the
WASC Faculty Advisors: Dr. Andrea Alveshere
(Anthropology) a-alveshere@wiu.edu or Prof.
Beate Wilson (Sociology) bi-wilson1@wiu.edu
Editorial Staff:
Beate Wilson
Chris Adamski
John F. Wozniak
…and some closing thoughts from our students…
I chose Sociology as my major because I have always been
interested in the way people behave and interact with one
another: how symbols are created and used, how people
understand what they understand, and essentially what
makes a person who they are. Psychology was nice, but I was
looking for something more--its all well and good if you can
find out someone has poor self esteem because of their
relationship with their mother, but what does any of that
mean? What does it mean to be a mother? What does the
parent-child relationship look like, and why? Those questions
can only be answered by Sociology.
McKenzie Price
Graduate Student
I choose sociology as my major because I wanted to gain a
better insight on how society operated so I can figure out how
I can change the systems in which individuals are oppressed.
Kenesha Green
Undergraduate Student