COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS YEAR IN REVIEW 2015–16

MISS ALABAMA 2015 Auburn alumna Meg McGuffin won the title of Miss Alabama 2015 and was fourth runner-up in the Miss America 2016 pageant in September. She received her undergraduate degree in media studies in May and served as a Camp War Eagle counselor, entertainment director for Eagle Eye TV, and president of the Auburn University Body Image/Eating Disorder Awareness Club.

DR. PEPPER SEC EDUCATION ABROAD SCHOLARSHIPJames Sims, a senior double-majoring in Spanish and psychology, received a 2015 Dr. Pepper SEC Education Abroad Scholarship to do a semester-long internship in Seville, Spain.

STUDENTS

OUR STUDENTS ACHIEVE GREATNESSOUR STUDENTS ACHIEVE GREATNESS

OUR STUDENTS ACHIEVE GREATNESSOUR STUDENTS ACHIEVE GREATNESS

FULBRIGHT ENGLISH TEACHING ASSISTANTSHIPPort Orange, Florida, native Matthew Pollock graduated with a double major in English literature and Spanish, and minors in linguistics and German. He was awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to teach high school students in the northern German village of Trittau. Pollack served as a tutor with the Miller Writing Center and attended the Goethe Institute in Berlin summer language program.

GILMAN SCHOLARSHIP Catherine Tabor was awarded a Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship for study abroad in Vienna. Tabor, a senior from Centreville, Alabama, and a member of the Honors College, is pursuing a double major in English and German International trade.

STUDENTS

GERMAN ACADEMIC RESEARCHMatthew Goforth and Tyler Look were awarded Fulbright Scholarships to study in Germany. Katherine Windham, a double major in German and chemical engineering, was awarded the German Academic Exchange Service Research in Science and Engineering Fellowship—one of only 200 awarded nationwide.

FULBRIGHT SCHOLARSHIPSteven Vickers, a senior from Mobile, Alabama, majoring in history, was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Latvia. In Latvia, Steven is serving as an English Teaching Assistant—one of only three Fulbright Latvia ETA scholarships awarded nationwide.

STUDENTS

KATHERINE WINDHAM

MATTHEW GOFORTH

TYLER LOOK

ALABAMA RESPITEStudents in Emily Myers’ Social Work 4080 class wrote a successful grant proposal for $5,000, which was awarded to Auburn United Methodist Church to help fund a respite program for caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s. The granting organization, Alabama Respite, noted that the award was based on the proposal’s focus on innovation, sustainability, and actual respite for caregivers.

PHILOSOPHY PRESENTATIONSydney Jolley’s essay on Augustine’s Confessions was named best undergraduate essay by the Alabama Philosophical Society. Sydney subsequently presented her paper at the meeting of the society.

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP Steven Boomhower, a doctoral student in cognitive and behavioral sciences in the Department of Psychology, received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. His research advisor is M. Christopher Newland.

IN ALL OF ITS FORMSIN ALL OF ITS FORMS

STUDENTS

PEBBLE HILL EXPANSIONIn November 2015, the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities, located in the historic Scott-Yarbrough house at Pebble Hill, hosted “Alabama Stories,” a symposium in honor of the Center’s 30th anniversary. The celebration also included a grand re-opening of the main house and its new addition, which includes a fully-equipped program room and offices. The companion building, designed to complement the main house, includes an assembly room capable of seating 100 people and is available for rent to the public.

COLLEGE NEWS

THE DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE WAS SELECTED TO HOST THE AMERICAN COLLEGE DANCE ASSOCIATION IN 2017.

40 YEARS OF SERVICEAuburn’s acclaimed Social Work Program has been producing qualified graduates for 40 years. The program began and was accredited in 1975–76 academic year.

COLLEGE NEWS

The Master of Community Planning Program joined the Department of Political Science in Fall 2015. The Community Planning Program is a professionally oriented master’s degree program that focuses on the skills that professional planners need for practice in an interactive and interdisciplinary environment.

LAND & PLANNING STUDENT COMPETITIONAlumni and students from the Master of Community Planning and Master of Public Administration programs won several awards from the Alabama Chapter of the American Planning Association. MCP students Sagar Hiware and Phoenix Robinson won second place in the student poster competition for their project on land readjustment as a planning tool. The distinguished leadership award for a planning student was awarded to Gray Parker, a student in the Master of Community Planning and Master of Landscape Architecture dual degree program.

COMMUNITY PLANNING

COLLEGE NEWS

MCP STUDENTS SAGAR HIWARE & PHOENIX ROBINSON

COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING AWARDThe Office of External Affairs in the College of Liberal Arts received a Circle of Excellence Silver Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) for its design of the college’s 2014–15 printed calendar. CASE is the leading professional association for education institutions and professionals working on their behalf in alumni relations, communications, marketing, and development.

The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures officially opened the Confucius Classroom during Fall 2015. The Confucius Classroom promotes the teaching of Chinese language and culture, facilitates mutual understanding and exchange between Chinese and American people, and fosters a better understanding of contemporary China.

CONFUCIUSCLASSROOM

COLLEGE NEWS

SELMA MARCHRACIN'LILLIAN PARKER, CHELSEA ZILLNER, CATHERINE WATSON,

CHELSEA ROADMAN, & WHITNEY JONES

BEHIND THE SCENES DOCUMENTING AN AUBURN LANDMARK

CLA STUDENTS ON THE HILL BSU AND AFRICANA STUDIES STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN HISTORY

AUBURN STUDENTS MARCHOn Sunday, March 8, 2015, the Africana Studies

Program partnered with members of Auburn’s Black Student Union to attend the march over the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma. College of Liberal Arts Dean Joseph Aistrup, and his wife, Shelley Aistrup, also attended the historical event to

commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

PUBLIC RELATIONS ON TRACKPublic Relations Professor Brigitta Brunner and representatives from FOX Sports University, a national program focused on bringing the real world into the classroom, collaborated on a

project challenge for Brunner’s campaigns class. Auburn public relations students’ campaign,

#NASCARNoise, debuted for NASCAR’s 10 Days of Thunder and the All-Star races.

PRESERVING CATER HALLKevin Smith, an associate professor in the

School of Communication and Journalism has been working with the Honors College and other schools across campus on a documentary about Cater Hall. Planning and filming began in the

spring of 2015 and the documentary should be finished after the Cater Hall renovation in 2016. Professor Susan Brinson has led many interviews including notable former alumni. Several graduate students have also helped with various aspects of

planning and filming.

APPALACHIA TEACHING PROJECTIn December, a delegation of Auburn University students presented a community-based project

with Tuskegee National Forest to federal officials at the 15th annual Appalachian Teaching Project

(ATP) Symposium in Washington, D.C. ATP coordinates student teams from participating

colleges and universities in Appalachia to develop applied research projects building a sustainable

future for the region.

OUR STUDENTS LEARN BEYOND THE CLASSROOMROBERT AGNE &

KEVIN SMITH

STUDENT OUTREACH

BEHIND THE SCENES DOCUMENTING AN AUBURN LANDMARK

ALABAMA CULTURAL RESOURCEKeith S. Hebert, assistant professor of history, has partnered with the Alabama Bicentennial Commission to launch the Alabama Cultural Resource Survey. To commemorate Alabama’s upcoming 200th birthday, Hebert has initiated a statewide crowdsourcing campaign to identify, describe, and map resources representative of the Yellow Hammer state's diverse culture. This digital history project will eventually contain information on over 25,000 cultural resources found across Alabama’s 67 counties.

HONORS COLLEGE PROFESSOR OF THE YEARKristrina Shuler, associate professor and director of anthropology, was selected as the Honors College Professor of the Year. Shuler was nominated by students in the Honors Congress and recognized as a professor who has made a significant impact on the students of the Honors College.

PAULA BOBROWSKI, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND

ASSOCIATE DEAN, WAS APPOINTED A SENCER LEADERSHIP FELLOW BY THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT. SENCER – SCIENCE EDUCATION FOR NEW CIVIC

ENGAGEMENTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES – IS SUPPORTED BY THE NATIONAL

SCIENCE FOUNDATION, AND BOBROWSKI WAS SELECTED AS ONE

OF THREE FELLOWS FROM MORE THAN 3,000 FACULTY MEMBERS AND

ACADEMIC LEADERS IN THE SENCER COMMUNITY.

APPALACHIAN TEACHING FELLOWMark Wilson, director of civic learning initiatives, was named an Appalachian Teaching Fellow for the 2015–2016 academic year. Wilson was also invited to join the members of the National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI). Based in Dayton, Ohio, the NIFI is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that serves to promote public deliberation and coordinate the activities of the National Issues Forums network.

OUR FACULTY EXCEL IN

THEIR FIELDS

FACULTY RECOGNIT ION

The Department of Art and Art History named Professor Allyson Comstock as its new department chair.

Professor James Shelley was named the department chair for the Department of Philosophy.

ART & PHILOSOPHY INTERSECTKeren Gorodeisky, associate professor of philosophy, in response to her research of the form of Kant’s notion of the judgment of beauty as distinct from the forms of theoretical and practical judgments, was invited to join acclaimed German artist Andrea Büttner in a discussion of Buttner’s work which was on display at the Walker Art Center in Minnesota.

PHILOSOPHY EDITORElay Shech, an assistant professor of philosophy, was named assistant editor for philosophy of science at the Internet Encyclopedia for Philosophy.

NEW APPOINTMENTSKelly Jolley was appointed to Auburn’s Goodwin-Philpott Endowed Chair in Religion.

FACULTY RECOGNIT ION

OUR FACULTY

THEIR FIELDS

FULBRIGHT ASSOCIATION PANELPaula Bobrowski professor of political science and associate dean, along with Rene McEldowney, director of the health administration program in the Department of Political Science, served on a panel about Innovative Health Technologies and Veterinary Links at the Fulbright Association Annual Conference in Atlanta. Bobrowski and McEldowney also brought three health administration students, the only students invited to attend the conference, where they met Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, among many distinguished speakers.

REACHING NEW VOICESSeveral of Rosephany Powell’s choral compositions were performed or premiered by choirs in Australia, China, Ireland, Nigeria, and Spain.

Additionally, Rosephanye Powell’s choral work, “With What Shall I Come,” was composed for and premiered by the internationally- renowned St. Olaf Choir at Carnegie Hall (New York), Severance Hall (Cleveland, OH), Orchestral Hall (Minneapolis, MN) and Schwartz Concert Hall (Atlanta, GA).

MAKING AN IMPACTAllen Furr, professor and chair of sociology, taught Applied Research Methods in the Social Impact Assessment Program at Punjabi University in Patiala, India.

««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««

«

««

««

««

« «

«­¬à

OUR FACULTY TEACH BEYOND THE HALLS OF AUBURN

FACULTY RECOGNIT ION

CLARINETFESTDavid Odom was selected by the International Clarinet Association to perform at the prestigious ClarinetFest 2015, in Madrid, Spain, where he presented a solo recital with pianist Laurelie Gheesling.

MUSIC IN BRAZILDavid Odom, Laurelie Gheesling, and Sara Lynn Baird were invited to teach and perform for the VI Festival Internacional de Música de Campina Grande, Brazil where they presented classes in clarinet, Alexander Technique, and conducting, respectively; as well as performed recitals and concerts.

PIANO TOURJeremy Samolesky presented master classes for piano students at Slipakorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, and was the featured pianist on a concert tour of Malaysia.

Matthew Hoch presented at the International Symposium on

PHILOSOPHY PRESENTATIONJennifer Lockhart and Tom Lockhart, assistant professors of philosophy, both presented papers at the prestigious Joint Sessions of the Aristotelian Society and Mind Association at the University of Warwick in the UK.

Singing and Song (St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador); the Pan-European Voice Conference (PEVOC); and the Pan-American Vocology Association (PAVA).

OUR FACULTY TEACH BEYOND THE HALLS OF AUBURN

Postdoctoral Fellow Meredith Reid, along with sponsors Professor Jeff Katz from the Department of Psychology and Professor Thomas Denney from the College of Engineering, received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (project title: 7T functional MRS to study metabolite variations during working memory).

HEALTHY FOOD POLICIESTannista Banerjee, an assistant professor in the Department of Economics, is collaborating on two research projects with the Sylacauga Alliance of Family Enhancement (SAFE) to study different ways to promote healthy food purchases and healthy eating through policy interventions. Banerjee received an AU Competitive Outreach Scholarship Grant from Auburn University to support her research efforts. In addition, Banerjee and SAFE are working on a separate project to test the effect of price incentives on healthy food purchases of families.

Christine Totura, an assistant professor of psychology and co- principal investigator, and Francesca Adler-Baeder, a

professor in the College of Human Sciences and principal investigator, received a $10 million grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services for The Alabama Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education Initiative.

Barry Burkhart, professor of psychology, received a $2.2 million contract renewal with the Alabama Department of Youth Services.

OUR FACULTY GO THE EXTRA MILE

GRANTS & FUNDING

Mary Sandage, an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Disorders, was awarded the SECV Travel Grant, which she will use to collaborate on a vocal disorders project with colleagues at Vanderbilt University. She was also recently published in the Journal of Voice for exploring the phenomenon of athletes who grunt during competition.

Chris Vickers, assistant professor of economics, received a $230,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to support his study of the Great Depression, which include the production of an important new data set from records kept at the National Archives.

 Ana Franco-Watkins and Jinyan Fan, associate professors of psychology, received a grant from Air Force Research Lab (project title: Ethical Decision Making in Human-Computer Systems Interactions).

 Chris Newland, alumni professor of psychology, received a grant from National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (project title: Behavioral Epigenetics of Methylmercury Exposure).

OUR FACULTY GO THE EXTRA MILE

NEW ART SCHOLARSHIP The Department of Art & Art History received a donation from Ginger Stern and J. Stern in memory of their mother, Roslyn Brock Stern.

The gift created a new scholarship and a lecture series that will kick off in Spring 2016.

NEW STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMIn Spring 2015, the Department of Communication

Disorders launched its inaugural Study Abroad Program in the United Kingdom and Ireland thanks to the

efforts of Allison Plumb, associate professor, and Laura Willis, associate clinical professor. The Study Abroad Program will continue to be open to undergraduate and graduate students interested in international

practice patterns in communication disorders.

ALUMNI SUPPORT

TIGER GIVING DAY Thanks to the generous donations from the Auburn Family to CLA’s Tiger Giving Day, the Auburn Audiology Outreach in Guatemala project was able to raise over $8,000. CMDS students and faculty are excited to help sustain the project’s gift of bringing hearing to children in Guatemala.

THE COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS RAISED $3,779,597 IN GIFTS AND PLEDGES IN 2015. WE HAVE RAISED A TOTAL OF

$21,992.894 DURING THE BECAUSE THIS IS AUBURN CAMPAIGN OR 95.8 % OF OUR

$22.9 MILLION GOAL.

BEST AMERICAN POETRYKeetje Kuipers, assistant professor of English, whose poem, “We drive home from the lake, sand in our shoes,” has been selected for inclusion in the 2016 Best American Poetry anthology.

BEST FIRST BOOKAdam Jortner, associate professor of history, received the James Broussard Best First Book Prize from the Society for the History of the Early American Republic (SHEAR) for his book, The Gods of Prophetstown: The Battle of Tippecanoe and the Holy War for the American Frontier.

The Department of Art & Art History won the Gary Brown ePortfolio Project Faculty Cohort Award, which recognizes individuals or teams who have exhibited exemplary leadership in promoting the ePortfolio Project Faculty Cohort, and have been engaged in practices that support the implementation of ePortfolios at Auburn.

JOURNALISM TOP RANKINGFor the first time ever, the School of Communication and Journalism was listed among the top 30 journalism programs in the country, according to an annual survey by NewsPro–Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA). The survey results were published in the article, “Survey: The Top Journalism Schools. Real-World Experience, Adaptability Rank High with Voters in the Annual NewsPro-RTDNA Poll,” in the December 2015 issue of Crain’s NewsPro, the Magazine for News Professionals.

ALUMNI THESIS IN COMMUNICATIONMillie Harrison, a recent graduate with a master’s degree in communication, was selected as a winner of the 2015 Master’s Thesis Award for her thesis, “’What’s It Supposed to Be?’ … ‘Cooked.’ The Communication of Information-Seeking Tactics on Hell’s Kitchen.” Harrison’s thesis committee consisted of Auburn faculty members Mary Helen Brown (chair), Brigitta Brunner, and Lauren Reichart Smith. Harrison is now enrolled in a doctoral program in organizational communication and technology at the University of Texas at Austin.

Don Wehrs, Hargis Professor of English literature, was awarded Auburn University’s Creative Research and Scholarship Award which recognizes faculty who have distinguished themselves through research, scholarly works, and/or creative contributions to their fields.

UNDERGRADUATE TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARDHistory Professor Tiffany Sippial was selected as a one of only two recipients of the Auburn Alumni Association’s 2015 Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award.

JOHN V. DENSON II ENDOWED PROFESSORJoseph Salerno was selected as the John V. Denson II Endowed Professor. Salerno has taught economics for many years, but this new appointment allows Salerno to work more often with graduate students and to shape dissertation work and other graduate-level research.

e P O R T F O L I OPROJECT FACULTY

DEPARTMENT OF ART PROFESSORS: GARY WAGONER, JESSYE MCDOWELL, & CHUCK HEMARD

FACULTY AWARDS

JOHN V. DENSON II ENDOWED PROFESSORJoseph Salerno was selected as the John V. Denson II Endowed Professor. Salerno has taught economics for many years, but this new appointment allows Salerno to work more often with graduate students and to shape dissertation work and other graduate-level research.

Jeff Katz, Alumni Professor of Psychology, received the Gerald and Emily Leischuck Endowed Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching. The Gerald and Emily Leischuck Endowed Presidential Awards for Excellence in Teaching were established to recognize instructional excellence and reward faculty for the outstanding job they do. The honor is awarded to two full-time, tenured faculty members each year who have demonstrated effective and innovative teaching methods and a continuing commitment to student success through advising and mentoring inside and outside the classroom.

EXPLORING MUSIC & ALZHEIMER'S DISEASENancy Haak, associate professor and chair of the Department of Communication Disorders, received a 2015 Post-Institute Implementation Award from SENCER (Science Education for New Civic Engagement and Responsibilities) to encourage students to apply learning of science to their individual learning objectives in the arts. Collaborating with Ann Knipschild, professor in the Department of Music, she and Larry Molt will help undergraduate students enrolled in a music course next fall, merge the science of brain processing with the perception of music and explore music’s role in engaging people with Alzheimer’s disease.

Larry Molt, an associate professor in the Department of Communication Disorders, was awarded a CLA Engaged Scholarship for his generous work in the community and across the nation.

DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE FACULTY LECTUREBarry Burkhart, a professor in the Department of Psychology, presented Auburn University’s 2015–16 Distinguished Graduate Faculty Lecture this past fall. The annual lecture honors a faculty member who has made significant contributions to graduate education at the university.

Tracy Witte, associate professor of psychology, received the Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award from the Auburn University Graduate Student Council.

SPIRIT OF EXCELLENCE Trixie Langley, lead administrative assistant in the Department of Psychology, received an Auburn University Spirit of Excellence Award and the CLA Staff and A&P Employee of the Year Award, recognizing her contributions to the university and the College of Liberal Arts.

Mike Waldrop, director of student services, received an Auburn University Spirit of Excellence Award recognizing his exemplary service to Auburn University.

LEISCHUCK AWARD

MIKE WALDROP

MILLIE HARRISON & MARY HELEN BROWN

FACULTY AWARDS

POLITICAL SCIENCE AND THE WORLD AFFAIRSThe second "Forum on World Affairs: A Discussion on the U.S. Role in the Middle East,” was held in conjunction with the Department of Political Science and the College of Liberal Arts. Panelists included Auburn graduate General Lloyd J. Austin III, U.S. Representative Martha Roby, and moderator Lt. General Ronald L. Burgess (Ret.).

THE ART & ART HISTORY DEPARTMENT HOSTED A LECTURE BY AU ALUMNUS JAMY WHELESS ’87.

WHELESS, CO-FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF LIGHTSTREAM ANIMATION STUDIOS,

CAPTIVATED STUDENTS BY SHARING HIGHLIGHTS OF HIS CAREER INCLUDING HIS ANIMATION OF YODA FOR “STAR WARS I, II

AND III” AND DAVY JONES FOR “THE PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN.”

NATIONAL ARTS & HUMANITIES LECTUREIn celebration of National Arts and Humanities Month, the College of Liberal Arts hosted Hedrick Smith, a Pulitzer-Prize winning author and former New York Times journalist, at the Auburn University Hotel and Dixon Conference Center. Smith’s lecture distilled the research of his current book, “Who Stole the American Dream?” In the book he outlines how the U.S. became a divided nation and suggests how it can be reunited.

The College of Liberal Arts hosted the 2015–2016 Breeden Eminent Scholar Cristina Rivera-Garza, who taught a graduate level course titled “Creative Expression and Mexican Community.” Cristina Rivera-Garza is the award-winning author of six novels, three collections of short stories, five collections of poetry and three non-fiction books. She is currently the Director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of California, San Diego.

EVENTS & LECTURES

SPECIAL GUESTS

WOMEN'S STUDIES AWARDSThe Eighth Annual Women’s Studies Awards luncheon honored four inspiring women and featured keynote speaker Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs. A mural depicting some of the most influential women leaders of all time was presented by the students who created it during the luncheon.

FACULTY EXHIBITThe Department of Art and Art History displayed their diverse works during the Studio Faculty Exhibition at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art from January to March, 2016. The exhibit showcased recent paintings, sculpture, works on paper, ceramics, digital imagery, and other media.

EXTRAORDINARY LECTUREDr. Mae Jemison, the first African American woman in space, was the keynote speaker at the Women’s Leadership Institute Extraordinary Women Lecture.

SHOWCASES ANDSPECIAL GUESTS

EVENTS & LECTURES

735 Extension Loop · Auburn, AL 36849-7350

FIND YOUR PLACE.COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS

Like us on facebook.com/AULiberalArts Follow us on Twitter @AULiberalArts#FindYourPlace

Produced by the College of Liberal Arts Office of External Affairs, February 2016.Auburn University is an equal opportunity educational institution/employer.

THIS IS AUBURN.

NON-PROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDAuburn, AL

PERMIT NO. 9

MESSAGE FROM OUR DEANYou’ve experienced only a small sampling of the outstanding accomplishments of our faculty, students, and alumni. Through innovative teaching, cutting-edge research and transformative outreach, we continue to strengthen our college as we work toward our goal to be the preeminent college at Auburn University. To keep up with all the exciting things going on in the College of Liberal Arts, I encourage you to join our e-newsletter mailing list and follow us on social media. War Eagle!

Joseph A. Aistrup, Dean