Iowa Board of Regents Efficiency and Transformation Study
Departmental Information Regarding Academic Programs
College of Humanities, Arts & Sciences
Academic year 2013-2014
32. Special Activities, events, and collaborations
ART
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The Department of Art recently launched a program called the Public Art Incubator under the
direction of sculpture professor Tom Stancliffe. The Incubator connects current students/ recent
alumni with professional artists through the fabrication of large scale commissioned public artworks.
Current and recent projects include:
o 2014 National Special Olympics Cauldron for the national games in Newark, NJ
o Sculptures for Panther Village student housing complex at UNI
o Sculptures for Nassau International Airport, Bahamas
The Department of Art collaborated with the Dan Gable Museum/National Wrestling Hall of Fame
with an exhibition of wrestling themed work.
The Department of Art led by Graphic Design professors Roy Behrens, Soo Hostetler and Phil Fass
organized and hosted a state-wide graphic design symposium for teachers, students and design
professionals, titled Envisioning Design.
Graphic Design professor Phil Fass and students produced designs for the UNI Chapter of the
Alzheimer’s Association.
Graphic Design professor Roy Behrens serves as a Humanities Iowa Speaker, giving frequent talks at
Iowa libraries, museums, and community centers, on various topics, among them Grant Wood,
Frank Lloyd Wright, and Buffalo Bill.
Professor JoAnn Schnabel and her students donate soup bowls for the Empty Bowls Fundraiser
(Biennial collaboration with Cedar Valley Food Bank and United Way).
Department Head Jeffery Byrd organizes the Vertigo Performance Art Series (Annual collaboration
with the Waterloo Center for the Arts).
BIOLOGY
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Jeff Tamplin received federal grant funding (mentioned above) as part of the State Wildlife GrantsCompetitive Program that includes turtle habitat restoration and monitoring work of turtles in Iowa,
Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
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We begin our third year participating in a student exchange program with National Chengchi
University (NCCU) in Taipei, Taiwan. UNI students work in the research laboratories in the Institute
of Neuroscience and take courses in Mandarin Chinese. NCCU come to the University of Northern
Iowa and interact with the Department of Biology and take classes through the Cultural and
Intensive English Program.
Steve O’Kane will participate in a faculty exchange program with Kyungpook National University
(KNU) of S. Korea for the summer 2014.
A yearly Departmental Newsletter is sent out to alumni.
The Department of Biology asked Dan Fick to represent the Department as its Alumnus in Residence
for the 2014 academic year.
UNI hosted a STEM Day with Hawkeye Community College and Ellsworth Community College to
promote the STEM disciplines at all three institutions. Students from Hawkeye and Ellsworth
Community Colleges came to campus to learn more about the STEM programs at UNI. Several
members of the Department of Biology developed a novel activity for these students to participate
in.
Maureen Clayton and Joan Smothers interacted with attendees at the Mississippi River Museum
during their Ding Darling Days event. This was a chance for the Department to be on display to the
public.
A student-led trip took place to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha in the fall and another student-led
trip is planned for Chicago this spring. These trips are a collaboration among different student
organizations that are sponsored by the Department of Biology.
The Department does have a weekly seminar series (colloquium) in which a variety of speakers from
other institutions and companies give presentations on multiple biological disciplines. This
colloquium course is required for all graduate students in the Department of Biology.
John Opus, Jeff Tamplin, Billie Hemmer, Stephanie Whitte, and Kim Cline-Brown hosted 80 second
grade students from the Waterloo school district and did various activities on Animals and Their
Habitats for a morning last fall as part of the STEM initiative for local schools.
CHEMISTRY
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Halloween House has become an annual event run by our ACS student affiliate group. This event has
five different rooms with themed demonstrations or hands-on activities. This event coincides with
national chemistry week and is aimed towards elementary and middle school students. This familyfriendly event is not just for dazzling with great demos, but also to explain the science. In the past
couple of years, the hands-on activities have been run by the biology student group (Tri-Beta) and
one of the demo rooms has been run by the physics club. The inclusion of these additional student
groups has really made this a special event in the Cedar Valley.
Expanding Your Horizons Network, and their 2014 EYH Cedar Valley Workshop, Saturday March 29
from 9-3. The workshop is for 5th-8th grade girls with a STEM theme. Dr. Sarah Boesdorfer along
with three majors will be running a workshop on Kitchen Chemistry Experiments.
Our Department also has four student ambassadors working with the Northeast Iowa STEM Hub at
various STEM festivals across the region. The students organize several hands-on activities as well as
some handouts for some at kitchen chemistry for the four STEM festivals held throughout the year.
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UNI’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry maintains a long-standing international student
exchange program with l’Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Rennes, one of the premier
schools of chemistry in France.
COMMUNICATION SCIENCES AND DISORDERS
2014 Iowa Conference on Communicative Disorders will be held March 27-28 and will draw speakers
and attendees nationwide. The is an entirely student organized and managed professional conference
offering continuing education credits for practicing professionals.
Community Outreach Activities
 The Roy E. Eblen speech and language clinic provides clinical services to patrons in the Cedar Valley
and beyond. We have speciality diagnostic clinics in the areas of delayed speech and language,
stuttering, neurogenic speech and language disorders, stuttering and voice disorders.
 Scottish Rite Early Language Program (in cooperation with Communication Sciences and Disorders
and UNI)
 Senior Minds in cooperation with various residential facilities in the Cedar Valley. Senior Minds is a
program aimed at the prevention of cognitive decline in older persons.
 Drs. Edmister and Garrett have been collaborating with UNI Special Education on a State of Iowa
supported work: Literacy, Language & Communication for Students with Significant Developmental
Disabilities: Reaching Potentials through Systemic & Sustainable Statewide Professional
Development Years 4 and 5
 Angie Burda “Name That!” which is an App developed in collaboration with Dr. Stephen Hughes,
AppsLab Manager at JPEC University of Northern Iowa for treating aphasia in adults.
 Refereed Presentations at National Convention by Faculty and Students (faculty in bold)
o Angela Burda, Emily Andersen, & Marissa Berryman: Performance of Older Adults on Executive
Functioning Tests
o Meghan Wethington & Allison Haskill: Static & Motion Stimuli in Facial Affect Intervention for
School-Age Children with ASD
o Ken Bleile, A. Lynn Williams, Brenda Loxton Louw, Nancy Scherer, Marcia Keske-Soares, Themis
Kessler, & Inge Trindale: Global Curriculum for SLP/A Students: Developing Research & Cultural
Competencies
o Tom Wright: What to Say and When: Tips for Building Rapport With Patients and Families
o Victoria Heisterkamp, Jane Stevenson, & Rachel Rodawig: Implementation of augmentative and
alternative communication systems in Nicaragua
o Carlin Hageman, Molly Pleggenkuhle, Gina Wiley, & Beth Borrett: A training video for education
caregivers on the social and safety aspects of swallow.
o Ken Bleile, Kelsey Greif, Katie Long, Daniela Bonfanti dos Santos, Isadora Pelissari, Andrea de
Melo, Fernanda dos Santos Pichini, Thalisson Finamor da Silva, Leticia Pessota Hanauer, Simone
de Simoni, Lynn Williams, & Marcia Keske-Soares: Narrative Review of Speech Sound Disorders
within an ICF-CY Framework
o Carlin Hageman, Jacob Feilmeier, & Roger Reeter: Job Satisfaction Survey of Speech-Language
Pathologists
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Ken Bleile, Madalyn Skahill, & Abigail Pilkington: Implementing Pogo Boards for Children with
Communication Needs in Nicaragua
Jennifer Garrett, Brooke Hansen, Audrey Walker, & Laurel Williams: The Genetics Knowledge,
Education, & Confidence of Iowa Speech-Language Pathologists
Todd Bohnenkamp, Kallie Thompson, Kaitlin Messer, & Jerald Moon: The Influence of Loudness
& Effort on the Aerodynamic & Articulatory Measures of Speech
Todd Bohnenkamp, Joanna Eggert, Christina Tran, Maria Thur de Koos, Marian Andreoli, Debora
Oliveira, Francine Ramos, Nancy Scherer, Ana Paula Fukushiro, Inge Trindade, & Sarah Boyce:
Speech Resonance Values of Children & Adults in Tennessee, Iowa and Brazil
COMMUNICATION STUDIES
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Documentary filmmaker and two-time Academy Award nominee Lucy Walker will visit the University
of Northern Iowa Sept. 29 and 30 to screen five of her works. Lucy Walker is a British film director
who twice has been nominated for an Academy Award. Walker is the third visiting filmmaker in the
William and Stephanie Clohesy Documentary Film Series. The goal of the series is to bring the
world's most distinguished documentary filmmakers to UNI.
Dick Haynes, senior vice president of research at Frank N. Magid Associates, Inc., was the keynote
speaker at the ninth annual Fast Forward Electronic Media Workshop on Friday, Oct. 18, 2013 at
UNI. In its ninth year, UNI’s Fast Forward Electronic Media Workshop continued to bring top working
media professionals to lead more than a dozen workshops on their craft at the University of
Northern Iowa. Fast Forward is supported by the Iowa Broadcasters Association.
The Communication Studies Department cosponsored the visit of Curt Ellis, director of the Peabodywinning documentary King Corn, and founder of FoodCorps: a national service organization that is
changing the way children relate to food.
The Department of Communication Studies cosponsored the visit of ward-winning filmmaker Byron
Hurt, director of “Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes” and “Soul Food Junkies." Hurt conducted a
master class for Electronic Media students and faculty.
Emmy Award winning Hollywood video editor and motion graphics artist JOSH BODNAR discussed
the creative process of one of the most talked about main title sequences in recent history, DEXTER,
on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013.
Internationally acclaimed performance artist Tim Miller performed about identity, the culture wars
and queer strategies for the future on Dec. 9, in the Bertha Martin Theatre in Strayer Wood Theatre
on the University of Northern Iowa campus.
The student organization Cedar River Productions sponsored the 2nd Annual Cedar Valley Film
Festival.
Mark Doeden, a 3-D digital imaging specialist who builds award-winning image rendering software
through his company Marmoset.co, spoke to the Digital Collective on Oct. 14 in Rod Library's Digital
Media Hub.
The Department of Communication Studies again sponsored Camp Multimedia in June. The camp is
the premiere camp in the Midwest for students in grades 6-9 to learn digital skills and project-based
learning. Students create their own interactive, integrated media projects with guidance and
demonstrations from our exceptional instructors and teaching assistants.
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UNI Interpreters Theatre 2013-14 produced a very strong season of original and guest
performances:
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Leftsovers and Station to Station. Conceived and directed by special professional guest
performance artists Brianne Waychoff and Ben Powell.
o Slammin' at the Interp! Featuring Josh Hamzehee, Melina Gotera, Yaw Kyeremateng, Zora
Hurst, Kate Krohn, Christian Roth, and Jerica Crawford.
o An Evening of Text Messages. See the "best of the best" from our beginning and advanced
performance classes.
o Performance! Body! Self! Internationally-acclaimed solo performer Tim Miller will perform
excerpts from his work and speak about the role performance plays on constellating
identity.
o *WASTED. Conceived, written, and directed by Danielle Dick McGeough.
o *(Re)orientation. Conceived, written, and directed by Amandajean Nolte with the students
of SAVE.
o Performance Power Hour! See the "best of the best" from our beginning and advanced
performance classes.
Drs. John Fritch and Catherine Palczewski co-edited Argumentation and Advocacy, the leading
journal in its field, 2010-2013.
COMPUTER SCIENCE
CS faculty have been offering annual summer workshops for middle and high school teachers to learn
how to use computation and computational tools to teach subjects such as math, science, social science,
and literature.
Google has sponsored these summer workshops for teachers with funding for materials and teacher
support.
CS faculty take teams of students into local middle schools to reach every sixth-grade student twice a
year with "Hour of Code" activities.
CS faculty provide academic and facilities support for researchers in several scientific disciplines,
including Physics and Mathematics.
CS faculty and students work annually with local high school Cyberdefense Competition teams in Cedar
Falls and Janesville, preparing them for competition and teaching them the fundamentals of system
security.
EARTH SCIENCE
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Dr. Mohammad Iqbal obtained $85,000 grant from the Iowa Nutrient Research Center to study
runoff from farms. This is part of the larger research program funded by the state legislature, and
will help in the study of the hypoxia problems currently observed in the Gulf of Mexico.
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Dr. Mohammad Iqbal has submitted an NSF proposal for $62,000 on a project involving faculty in
the geology department at Tribhuvan University (Nepal). This is part of a project that was already
initiated during previous years, and is in line with the current memorandum of understanding that
exists between UNI and Tribhuvan University.
Weekly observatory shows, 10 weeks during the fall semester, 6 weeks during spring semester –
open to the public, over 600 guests.
Weekly planetarium shows, 9 weeks during the spring semester, open to the public, over 200
guests.
Sunday at the Quarry – Outreach event at local quarry in conjunction with National Earth Science
Week, over 600 visitors. The quarry owns, BMC LLC, also provide support to the department for
various educational activities for in-service teachers.
We continue to work with the UNI Museum in providing student interns to help evaluate and
classify geological and paleontological holdings in the collection. We are also working to help move
some components to Latham hall for display.
Students took part in the crowd-sourced “Snapshot” in the fall to measure the water quality of Dry
Run Creek in Black Hawk County. Dr. James Walters also serves on the Dry Run Creek Watershed
Improvement Technological Advisory Board.
Dr. Walters participated in a research presentation at Texas A&M University concerning his research
on permafrost, and met with two faculty members regarding possible collaborations.
Dr. Siobahn Morgan attended an international conference on stellar pulsation and met with several
researchers on possible future collaborations/data sharing programs.
Faculty including Dr. James Walters, Dr. Siobahn Morgan, Dr. Chad Heinzel and Dr. Alexa Sedlacek
have worked with local area boy scout groups on a variety of activities to assist the scouts obtain
various merit badges, including geological and astronomical badges.
Dr. Thomas Hockey and Dr. James Robinson (Philosophy and World Religions) are co-teaching a
course that spans both departments on ancient and modern cosmology. Students from each
program, as well as non-majors are enrolled in the course.
Dr. Alan Czarnetzki continues to collaborate with Doreen Hayek (ITS) on the IMPACT program,
bringing technology teaching tools to K-12 educators.
Dr. Chad Heinzel continues collaborations with researchers in Sicily and Italy in studying the impact
of ancient people on the environment in ancient Sicily. This collaboration has also included
undergraduate students, and non-majors.
Dr. Kyle Gray collaborated with two Lego FIRST robotics teams by providing content information on
volcanoes and volcanic hazards.
Dr. Kyle Gray collaborated on the InTeGrate project to write a peer-reviewed, rigorously assessed
curriculum module as part of a three-person team from three different institutions.
Dr. Kyle Gray is a co-organizer for the 2014 Science Education Update Conference, and will be
presenting at 1-hour workshop entitled “Be a Scientists!!! Online Resources for Doing Real World
Science” for the participants (grade 7-12 educators from the state of Iowa).
Dr. Mohammad Iqbal is continuing to expand his hydrology grant work to more areas, and
incorporate water quality research methods in all levels of the curriculum. Currently plans are
underway to expand these projects using GIS applications, which will involve the Geography
department at UNI.
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Dr. Siobahn Morgan and Dr. Alexa Sedlacek were both featured speakers at the UNI Women in
Physics speaker series during the past year.
Members of the department (faculty and students) are regular participants in Iowa STEM initiative
activities, including the Cedar Valley Family STEM Festival in Waterloo, Tama County Family STEM
Event, and local k-12 school STEM Events. There are also collaborations/presentations with groups
such as the Iowa Limestone Producers Association, the Black Hawk Gem and Mineral Society
meetings, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Iowa Governor’s Executive STEM
Council.
LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES
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English and English Teaching BA
o Collaborated with College of Business, Department of Communication Studies, and Spanish
programs to develop the Hearst Speaker Series focused on the “Digital Turn” in Humanities.
Featured speakers included Kate Pullinger, Cheryl Ball, Juan Luis Suarez, and Stephen Johnson.
o Collaborated with the Department of Communication Studies to host Camp Multimedia, a oneweek camp for children in fifth through tenth grade, offering scholarships for low-income
children. Tracks include video editing, animation, game design, and advanced game design.
o Supported trip for English majors to attend a performance of Shakespeare’s Hamlet by the
professional acting company, American Players Theater, in Spring Green, WI.
o Brought Jenna Kramer to UNI for Alumni in Residence Day. Jenna is the social media manager
for Phantom EFX a gaming company located in Cedar Falls. She spoke to several classes about
the special projects she did within her UNI courses that helped her to prepare for her position.
o Co-hosted bilingual poet Eduardo Corral with Spanish programs.
o Hosted poet and translator Curtis Bauer.
o Hosted the monthly Final Thursday Reading Series, drawing together writers from the university
and eastern Iowa to share their work at the Hearst Center for the Arts.
English MA
o Collaborated with College of Business, Department of Communication Studies, and Spanish
programs to develop the Hearst Speaker Series focused on the “Digital Turn” in Humanities.
Featured speakers included Kate Pullinger, Cheryl Ball, Juan Luis Suarez, and Stephen Johnson.
o Co-hosted bilingual poet Eduardo Corral with Spanish programs.
o Hosted poet and translator Curtis Bauer.
o Hosted the monthly Final Thursday Reading Series, drawing together writers from the university
and eastern Iowa to share their work at the Hearst Center for the Arts.
Spanish and Spanish Teaching BA
o Collaborated with College of Business, Department of Communication Studies, and English
programs to develop the Hearst Speaker Series focused on the “Digital Turn” in Humanities.
Featured speakers included Kate Pullinger, Cheryl Ball, Juan Luis Suarez, and Stephen Johnson.
o Have received funding for and are soliciting feedback from members of the Latino community in
Northeast Iowa to identify questions and issues that might be addressed with our resources.
Students in Spanish for Community Engagement are then researching the resources, both public
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and private, available for these issues (covering the gamut from the availability of health or legal
services to educational opportunities). Students translate relevant materials under the guidance
of Professor Jennifer Cooley in Spanish.
o Compiled the personal essays of students in Spanish for Heritage Speakers to foster a sense of
community pride and to foster greater understanding of immigrants’ experiences in Iowa.
o Co-hosted bilingual poet Eduardo Corral with English programs.
o Hosted Spanish-language story-telling for school children transported to UNI. Professor Gabriela
Olivares’s class did dramatic readings.
o Created Spanish language internship opportunities for Latino students with local businesses,
such as VGM (Waterloo) a company (according to their web page the largest of its kind in the
world) with 20 divisions that markets home medical equipment and training programs across
the U.S. and abroad, and The Mudd Group (Cedar Falls) a large agency that works in the U.S. and
abroad to create advertising campaigns and branding in a multimodal setting, (i.e. online, on
radio, on television, in print, etc.) and has recently begun campaigns to reach Spanish-speakers
in the U.S.
Spanish MA
o Collaborated with College of Business, Department of Communication Studies, and English
programs to develop the Hearst Speaker Series focused on the “Digital Turn” in Humanities.
Featured speakers included Kate Pullinger, Cheryl Ball, Juan Luis Suarez, and Stephen Johnson.
o Co-hosted bilingual poet Eduardo Corral with English programs.
o Hosted poet and translator Curtis Bauer.
TESOL, TESOL Teaching, and TESOL Spanish BA
o TESOL Club hosts a twice weekly Tutoring and Conversation Corner in which they help nonnative English speakers with homework or with gaining greater experience with and confidence
in speaking English. They typically reach 35 students each day. In total, they have reached 71
students just since the start of spring semester.
o TESOL students have been working with the Burmese community in Waterloo, meeting at 220
East, a new storefront art center downtown.
o We are bringing Dr. Lynda Yates to campus next month, inviting colleagues from Iowa, Iowa
State, and the University of Minnesota to discuss language acquisition. Dr. Yates is currently
conducting a study of the relationship between language training and settlement outcomes for
newly arrived migrants with non-English backgrounds. Last year’s language roundtable drew
more than a hundred colleagues from college and high school programs around the state.
TESOL MA
o Professor Joyce Milambiling is on the EFL specialist multi-year roster for the U.S. State
Department to deliver workshops and professional development to English teachers throughout
the world. She delivered a webinar on the topic of English Listening Skills that was attended by
more than 1,000 teachers.
o Professor Joyce Milambiling is a reviewer for both the student and faculty Fulbright grant and
scholarship programs.
o Professor Tammy Gregersen was a member of the legislative task force that met in Des Moines
throughout all of last spring and summer, culminating in a report to state law makers on how to
improve Iowa ESL education.
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Several of our funded MA TESOL students currently work in the Center for Intensive English
Program, helping students preparing for UNI programs to develop their academic English skills.
o We are bringing Dr. Lynda Yates to campus next month, inviting colleagues from Iowa, Iowa
State, and the University of Minnesota to discuss language acquisition. Dr. Yates is currently
conducting a study of the relationship between language training and settlement outcomes for
newly arrived migrants with non-English backgrounds in Australia. Last year’s language
roundtable drew more than a hundred colleagues from college and high school programs from
around the state.
Teaching English in Secondary Schools (TESS) MA
o Iowa Writing Project, directed by Dr. Jim Davis, collaborated with teachers across Iowa school
districts to host the following summer workshops: Studies in the Teaching of Writing, Teacher
Leadership in the Common Core Era, and Teaching Deliberatively: Writing and Civic Literacy.
These workshops are hosted at sites around the state and are student-centered, professional
development opportunities shaped by teachers in the field. IWP workshops introduce teachers
to the resources UNI has to offer and many who take them go on to enroll in the MA TESS
program.
o See description of Teaching Shakespeare course below in question 33.
MATHEMATICS
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Department hosted the Second Annual Conference for the Exchange of Mathematical Ideas on the
UNI campus– June 22-23, 2013
Department organized a STEM Conference for Community College instructors/advisors and high
school counselors on the UNI campus – July 31, 2013. The conference was sponsored by Iowa
EPSCoR.
Department is a partner in both the Iowa EPSCoR and the IINSPIRE LSAMP (= Iowa-Illinois-Nebraska
Partnership for Innovation in Research and Education Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority
Participation) National Science Foundation Grants.
Department organized a Math Fair for student local schools
Faculty members collaborate on research with researchers in U.S., Europe, and Asia.
Actuarial program has an active Colloquium Series in which the program students are required to
participate.
The PSM programs maintain close ties with industry particularly with the John Deere Waterloo
Works and the CBE Group in Cedar Falls.
MUSIC
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The School of Music, in collaboration with the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center and the
College of Humanities, Arts and Sciences, will present the first-ever Midwest International Piano
Competition at the University of Northern Iowa, June 1-7, 2014. The competition will bring youth
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and exceptional professional musicians from all over the world to the UNI campus to participate in a
week-long international competition and festival. For more information, visit
www.midwestpianocompetition.com.
Trio 826, a UNI College of Humanities, Arts and Sciences string trio project featuring UNI viola
professor Julia Bullard, violinist Susanna Klein (faculty, Virginia Commonwealth University) and
cellist Hannah Holman (New York City Ballet Orchestra), was in residence this summer with the
Cedar Valley Chamber Music Festival. As part of the residency, the trio presented several community
outreach performances and performed on the season's subscription concerts. The trio then traveled
to France, where they performed two concerts, the first at a chateau near the town of Nogent le
Rotrou, and the second at the music festival "Le Musicales au Fival" in St Etienne-de-Serre.
The School of Music celebrated its 32nd annual Scholarship Benefit Concert in September. At the
concert, two exceptionally talented alumni were inducted into the School of Music Hall of Fame.
Outstanding music educator and UNI Emeritus Professor, Jon Hansen was inducted alongside his
former student and associate principal trombonist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, James Miller.
The UNI Community Music and UNI Suzuki Schools continue to be a very successful outreach
program for the University throughout the Cedar Valley, in local rural schools, and for minority or
disadvantaged /disable children, attracting more than 600 participants annually.
More than 30 guest artists, located from throughout the US and around the globe, are performing
and teaching masterclasses to UNI students during the current academic year.
PHILOSOPHY AND WORLD RELIGIONS
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Conference
o July 10-14, 2013. International Meeting of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion, July 10-14,
2013; organized and administered at UNI by Martha Reineke, Professor of Religion.
PWR Lecture Series at UNI – 2013-2014
o Grinell, Jason, Associate Professor of Philosophy, SUNY Buffolo State, “Aristotle, Clint Eastwood,
and Other-Selves: Aristotelian Ideas of Friendship in the Films ‘Million Dollar Baby’ and ‘Gran
Torino,’” Sept.
o 20.
o Heine, Steven; Reineke, Martha, “Japanese Religion: A View from the Streets of Tokyo,” Oct 23.
o O’Kane, Steve, Professor of Biology, UNI; Rue, Loyal, Professor Emeritus, Luther College;
Soneson, Jerry, Associate Professor of Religion, UNI, “Does Evolution Undermine Religion?” Nov
2.
o Degnin, Francis, Associate Professsor of Philosophy, UNI, “Soaring Costs and the Nanny State:
Separating Truth from Fiction in What Obama Care Means to You, Nov 15.
o Burnight, John, Assistant Professor of Religion, “Truth Versus Tradition: The Book of Job as
Protest Literature,” Feb. 7.
o Clohesy, Bill, Professor of Philosophy, Discussion on the film, “Hannah Arendt,” March 7.
o VanSandt, Craig, The David Wilson Chair in Business Ethics, “Business's Duty to Provide Gainful
Employment in the Face of Rapidly Encroaching Robotics,” date TBA.
Other public lectures at UNI offered by PWR faculty – 2013-2014
o Hill, Susan, "What Does the Bible REALLY Say About Homosexuality?" Oct 8.
o O’Kane, Steve; Soneson, Jerry, “Science and Religion: Conflict or Compatibility?” Feb 13.
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Hill, Susan, Professor of Religion, “Mary Magdalene: Penitent Prostitute or Apostle to the
Apostles?” Mar 11.
Lectures in the Community – 2013-2014
o Francis Degnin, as our expert on Bio-medical Ethics, has given 12 lectures this year on medical
ethics at our local hospitals, nursing and residency programs, and churches.
Collaborative Workshop Panel – Summer 2014
o Francis Degnin will moderate a panel on Climate change in our UNI Sustainability workshop
Collaborative Workshop – 2010
o Martha Reineke, Professor of Religion, was a workshop leader for Waash Center for Teaching
Theology and Religion. This two-week workshop over two years was a national workshop for
pre-tenure faculty who were selected based on a competitive basis from applicants from across
North America.
Collaborative programming in education - 2010
o Martha Reineke collaborated with the Raven Foundation in Chicago, IL on educational
programming at the Lookingglass Theatre, a major repertory company based in Chicago. She
offered “Moral Panic, Mimetic Theory, and Trust.” A pre-play lecture on the new play, Trust,
written by Andy Belin and David Schwimmer; directed by Heidi Stillman and David Schwimmer,
Lookingglass Theatre, Chicago, IL
PHYSICS:
General Audience
 Halloween Magic Show (Physics Club Students), October 25, 2013
 Science Center of Iowa Nano Days Activities, Des Moines, March 29, 2014
 Family STEM Festival: Waterloo (11/21/14); Traer (3/30/14); Dubuque (4/12/14)
 Begeman Lecture, “Why Isn’t God Ambidextrous?”, Dr. Timothy Gay, University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
April 2, 2014
 MiniSumo Robot Competition, UNI campus, April 18, 2014
Undergraduate-Focused
 Women in Physics Student Club attended 2014 Midwest Conference for Undergraduate Women in
Physics, Chicago, January 2014.
 Society of Physics Students Zone 11 Regional Meeting, UNI campus, April 12, 2014
K-12
 MiniSumo Robotics Summer Camp, June 2013
 Mario Kart Programming/Electronic Control Summer Camp, July 2013
 Weekly After-School Science Activities at St. Patrick’s Elementary School, Cedar Falls, 2013-14
 Outreach Visits to High Schools: Waterloo West (twice), Waterloo East and Cedar Falls, 2013-2014
 Beckman Middle School students and teachers visited Physics Department, October 8, 2013
 Union Middle School students and teacher visited Physics Department, October 22, 2013
 Nanoscience Day for Columbus High juniors and seniors, UNI campus, November 15, 2013
 Spotlight on STEM Day for Pre-K-12 students and teachers, UNI campus, February 27, 2014
 AEA 267 Physics Competition, McLeod Center, March 27, 2014
 Think//Thrive Day for Talented and Gifted Students, April 3, 2014
 State of Iowa Physics Competition, McLeod Center, April 17,2014
K-12 Teachers
 Science Update Conference for Iowa Teachers, April 4, 2014
 Community College STEM Events and Collaborations
 UNI-Community College STEM Day, UNI Campus, October 25, 2013
 STEM Career Conferences at: Iowa Central Community College (11/14/13); Hawkeye Community
College (2/21/14); Iowa Lakes Community College (3/3/14); Kirkwood Community College (3/14/14)
 Physics major Corey Cooling gives research presentation at Hawkeye Community College, March 26,
2014
Collaborations with National Organizations
 The UNI Physics Department is a member of the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PTEC), an
association of institutions of higher education dedicated to the improvement of physics and physical
science teacher education (http://www.ptec.org/). This effort, sponsored by the American Physical
Society, the American Institute of Physics, and the American Association of Physics Teachers,
embodies a broad spectrum of education research-based reforms and initiatives.
 Special Activities, events, and collaborations
SCIENCE EDUCATION
General Audience
 Family STEM Festivals in Waterloo (11/21/14), Traer (3/30/14), and Dubuque (4/12/14).
K-12 Students
 Afterschool Science Club (4th – 8th Grade) at St. Patrick Elementary School in Cedar Falls.
 Waterloo Middle School STEM Fair – Secondary science teaching majors assist Waterloo teachers in
working with students on projects.
 UNI/AEA Regional Physics Competition (March 27, 2014) and State of Iowa Physics Competition
(April 17, 2014) for high school students at the UNI McLeod Center in Cedar Falls.
Teachers, School District, and Area Educational Agencies
 Science Education faculty operate the Science Education Resource Center (SERC) that provides kitbased science resources to K-12 teachers and classrooms within AEA 267 region in collaboration
with AEA 267 who provides transportation services.
 Iowa Department of Education, Integrating Crosscutting Concepts in Iowa Science Classrooms Grant
Proposal in collaboration with Science Education faculty in 2 colleges (CHAS and COE), 2 Iowa School
Districts and 4 Area Education Agencies open to all Iowa secondary science teachers ($512,805,
2014-2017).
 Iowa Science Foundation, Using the Next Generation Science Standards to Improve Instruction in
Iowa Science Classes submitted by Jody Stone to provide resources and workshops for teachers
including our MA Science Education teachers ($4,550, 2014-2015).
 Science Education faculty in collaboration with the CHAS Science Departments will hold a Science
Education Update Conference for Iowa Teachers on April 4, 2014.
Community College STEM Events
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STEM Career Conferences funded by Iowa Farm Bureau in collaboration with Iowa community
colleges at Iowa Central Community College (11/14/13), Hawkeye Community College (2/21/14),
Iowa Lakes Community College (3/3/14), and Kirkwood Community College (3/14/14).
University
 Science Education faculty and students have participated in UNI open houses and Up Close days for
potential students and their families during the 2013-14 academic year on September 28, 2013;
October 11, 2013; October 14, 2013; October 18, 2013, October 19, 2013; October 21, 2013,
November 8, 2013, November 9, 2013; November 15, 2013; November 22, 2013; February 1, 2014;
February 14, 2014; and February 21, 2014. Faculty and students will also participate on March 29,
2014; April 18, 2014; and April 21, 2014.
 Science Education faculty consists of UNI faculty from Science Departments in the College of
Humanities, Arts, and Science as well as Departments in the College of Education.
 Science Education faculty are members of UNI Teacher Education faculty who serve on the UNI
Teacher Education Secondary Senate, help with UNI Teacher Education Induction Convocation each
Fall and Spring, and participate in providing feedback for artifacts including the Teacher Work
Sample (TWS) and edTeacher Performance Assessment (edTPA) completed by our student teachers.
 Science Education faculty are members of the UNI STEM community and serve on numerous
university committees including faculty senate as well as advisory and search committees for the
UNI Center of Educational Transformation (CET).
Professional Organizations
 Science Education faculty serve as members and help facilitate the Fall Conference of the Iowa
Science Teaching Section of the Iowa Academy of Science.
TECHNOLOGY:
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Departmental collaborations include about 350 articulation agreements with community colleges
and the collaboration with the 15 Iowa Community College I-Am Consortiums.
The department has hosted delegates from Kyungpook National University (KNU) in Korea. 19
Korean students and 4 KNU faculty members attended STEM classes (PLTW) in January. Dr.
Greenhalgh also gave an additional presentation to the 19 students in developments towards
integrative STEM education.
Collaborated with Cedar Valley Society of Women Engineers for Exploring Your Horizons Event by
inviting 100 middle school girls to explore engineering careers at the department.
Our department has also participated in the Regional STEM Hub activities for K-12 students, as well
as the Farm Bureau STEM educational series for high school teachers and guidance counselors.
Two department faculty published a new textbook “Introduction to Metal Casting” by the American
Foundry Society (AFS). The faculty are Dr. PN Rao, Professor and Dr. Yury Lerner, Emeritus Professor.
Dr. Giese represented the department and participated at many high school events such as the
iExplore Event at Central College in Pella, the Elkader STEM Day, and the Dubuque STEM Day.
3D Mold Printing demonstrations have been and continue to be given to many organizations such as
Iowa Falls Casting, Hawkeye Community College Casting, and Wauken Casting.
Hosting UNI CHAS Gifted Students Think/Thrive event.
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Hosting a High School Metal Casting Workshop including foundry tours and a Cast Metals Institute
two-day class.
UNI AFS was the only university and student organization to host a trade show booth at the
AFSCastExpo 2013, held once every three years.
Dr. Giese is a committee member of the Pella Professional Engineers Enhancing Resources for
Schools (PEERS), now funded by the State Iowa STEM Council, a committee member of the Hawkeye
Community College CNC Program Advisory Committee, a committee member of the Hawkeye
Community College Industrial Automation Technology Program Advisory Committee and a
committee member of the Iowa Central Community College Design and Engineering Advisory
Committee.
THEATRE
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Substantial outreach to more than 60 youth on the autism spectrum and their families through
support by a major Autism Speaks grant, Autism Society of Iowa, Guernsey Foundation, and private
donors.
Hosted (4th time) the Iowa Thespians Festival; in collaboration with the Gallagher-Bluedorn
Performing Arts Center; includes outreach to high school students through workshops in special
performance or technical theatre techniques
Collaboration with UNI’s Cornerstone course including providing a slot in regular theatre season for
connected production; American Way of Eating adaptation included collaboration with faculty in the
Department of Languages and Literatures.
Participated in Krystallnacht, in conjunction with Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra and
others; a musical and spoken-word concert dedicated to survivors of the Holocaust
Theatre UNI production of Spring Awakening included collaboration with renowned artist Gary
Kelley; his poster design has scored in a regional ranking at a level sufficient to advance to national
review.
Departmental students participated in Arts Advocacy Day at the Iowa State Capital.
Four students selected to present research at State Capitol, three students selected to present
research at TASH conference in Chicago, five students selected to present creative activity regarding
production and spectrum audiences at TYA USA regional conference in Omaha.
WOMEN’S AND GENDER STUDIES
The WGS Program organizes, arranges, sponsors, and co-sponsors a multitude of special activities and
events on campus. The WGS program is responsible for delivering the majority of programming on
campus focused on issues linked to gender and feminism. The program works closely and collaborates
with other entities on campus, including the Center for Violence Prevention, Center for Multicultural
Education, student organizations (e.g., Feminist Action League, Proud), and other departments.
This year, we have organized or sponsored the following events (condensed list):
a) Single events such as A Tribute to Nelson Mandela and UNI RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest
National Network) day
b) Events (film viewing and book discussion) surrounding the keynote speaker, Angela Davis
c) Domestic Violence Awareness Month
d) V-week with events such as V-Men Workshop, Vagina Monologues, and Byron Hurt
e) Women’s History Month with events such as a book discussion, film viewing of Girls Rising, a
panel discussion on representation of Women in Comics, and keynote speaker, Daisy Hernandez
Our faculty are also collaborate with other university programs, as well as offering special activities. For
example, a committee of WGS affiliated faculty, who are also members of the UNI-National Coalition
Building Institute, raised funds and coordinated efforts to take over 60 students, faculty and staff to the
National White Privilege Conference in Madison, WI., March 26-29 this year. A part of the participants'
commitment is to bring what they learn back to UNI in the form of a presentation April 15, and hopefully
some strategic planning to more fully implement tools to create a more welcoming campus that
improves recruitment and retention of students, faculty and staff.