Thursday, November 29, 2007

Criminal Justice honor society inducts 18 at UIS

Eighteen new members will be inducted into the Epsilon Chi Chapter of Alpha Phi Sigma, the national criminal justice honor society, during ceremonies to be held December 5 at UIS. Alpha Phi Sigma recognizes the academic excellence of undergraduate and graduate students. Read more, including a list of new inductees>>

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

UIS Queer-Straight Alliance to host "Beyond Beats & Rhymes" Campaign

"HIP-HOP: Beyond Beats and Rhymes," a documentary by Byron Hurt, will be shown at 7 p.m. Thursday, November 29, in Brookens Auditorium. A panel discussion featuring UIS faculty and staff will immediately follow.

Hurt's film takes an in-depth look at issues of masculinity, sexism, consumerism, and homophobia in hip-hop culture and in the larger American society.

The event is presented by UIS' Queer-Straight Alliance in partnership with the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition. Read more>>

Anderson named associate director for marketing at Illinois Issues

Linda S. Anderson has been named associate director for marketing and circulation of Illinois Issues magazine and Center Publications at UIS. She will oversee the magazine's marketing, advertising, and underwriting and will direct promotion of all other materials produced by Center Publications. Anderson has over 19 years experience in public relations, communications, and marketing with various nonprofit, government, and corporate organizations. Read more>>

Monday, November 26, 2007

Gallery to hold silent auction benefit

The UIS Visual Arts Gallery will hold its Annual Benefit and Silent Auction fundraiser Wednesday, December 5, through Friday, December 7. Art and crafts in every medium will be on display for silent bids each day in the gallery. The event concludes Friday evening with a reception and final bidding from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

Donations of artwork will be accepted through December 4. The auction is the gallery's only fundraiser and all proceeds are used to support future exhibitions. Read more>>

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Natural products chemist to deliver Merck Science Seminar at UIS

Dr. James Chapman will be the keynote speaker at the Fall Merck Science Seminar at UIS. Chapman's presentation, "Nature's Chemical Complexity: A Chemist's Study of Plants," will be from 11 a.m. to noon, Friday, November 30, in PAC Conference Room G.

Chapman, an associate professor of chemistry at Rockhurst University, is part of a group engaged in exploring the chemistry of plants. Results from this work help land managers understand the importance of periodic prairie fires and have vital implications in the search for new medicines.

The seminar is part of the Merck/AAAS Undergraduate Science Research Program. UIS was one of only 11 universities in the nation to receive the three-year award in 2006. Read more>>

Music groups to present Fall Showcase Concert

UIS music groups will present their annual Fall Showcase concert beginning at 7:30 p.m. Friday, November 30, in the PAC Studio Theatre. The concert will feature the UIS Chorus, Chamber Orchestra, Band, World Percussion Club, and Blue Rhapsody A Cappella Club performing a variety of pieces and styles, from classical to African drum rhythms.

Tickets are $6; $5 from each ticket will benefit the UIS Music Student Merit Award fund. Read more>>

Graduate student receives Richmond scholarship

Shawna Mayer, a graduate student in the UIS English Department, is the recipient of the 2007 Rosie Richmond Scholarship. Nancy Perkins, who serves as Mayer's adviser, noted, "Shawna is a very strong writer and I am enjoying working with her to develop her creative voice."

Richmond was a graduate of Sangamon State University and later taught creative writing on campus. She was also a co-founder of local women writers' group Brainchild. The scholarship in her name is awarded annually to an English major at UIS. Read more>>

Monday, November 19, 2007

U of I students may apply for Brundage scholarships

Applications for the 35th annual Avery Brundage Scholarship competition for University of Illinois students who excel in both academics and athletics are being accepted now through Wednesday, January 31, 2008. Applications can be submitted only online.

Academic and athletic competence will be considered over financial need. Last year, 20 winners were awarded $2,500 each. Read more>>

UIS to host presentation by multimedia artist

A presentation by multimedia artist James Luna will begin at 7 p.m. Friday, November 30, in Brookens Auditorium. Luna is an artist, performer, and educator whose work deals with identity and the contrasts between romanticized stereotypes and the reality of being a Native American in contemporary culture.

His appearance is also presented in conjunction with UIS' Engaged Citizenship Common Experience Speakers Series. Read more>>

Thursday, November 15, 2007

UIS hosts international collegiate programming contest

On November 3, UIS was host site for the regional segment of an international programming contest -- the 32nd annual International Collegiate Programming Contest, also known as the Global "Battle of the Brains" Software Competition.

The event has become the largest and most prestigious competition of its kind. Following regional contests held from September to December world-wide, 90 teams will advance to the World Finals. At UIS, 19 teams from eight colleges and universities competed.

The contest is sponsored by IBM and the Association for Computing Machinery. Read more>>

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Marie Osmond coming to Sangamon Auditorium

Iconic entertainer Marie Osmond will celebrate "The Magic of Christmas" at UIS' Sangamon Auditorium on Tuesday, December 11, at 7:30 p.m. Osmond brings warmth, joy, and the "magic" of the season to the stage with favorite holiday songs, an impromptu medley of some of her own hits, and a video sharing of memories from some televised Osmond Family Christmas shows of the past. Read more>>

Monday, November 12, 2007

Political art series to show "Zapatista"

Political Art and the Public Sphere will conclude for the fall semester with a screening of the film Zapatista: A Big Noise Film at 6 p.m. Monday, November 26, in Brookens Auditorium.

On January 1, 1994, the day that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect, several thousand Mayan soldiers took over half the southeastern Mexican state of Chiapas. Zapatista is a look at the first four years of that uprising and tells the story of a transnational movement that transformed Mexican and international political culture in critical ways. Read more>>

English graduate wins outstanding master's thesis award

Denise Howard Long has won the UIS Chapin Outstanding Master's Thesis award for the 2006-07 academic year. Her thesis – titled "The Breadwinner in Post-World War II American Literature: Constructing Masculinity at Midcentury" – was chosen from among eight theses and projects nominated by graduate departments at the university.

Mona Colburn, who earned a master of arts degree in Environmental Studies, and Michael Howard Kelley Jr., who earned a master of arts degree in History, received Special Merit Awards. Other students who were nominated are: Lisa M. Bosworth (Educational Leadership), Eugenio Fernandez (Management Information Systems), Teresa Sharp Holton (Individual Option), Dorothy L. Johnson (Human Services), and Vishal D. Parikh (Computer Science). Read more>>

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Barbara Burkhardt named University Scholar

Barbara Burkhardt, UIS associate professor of English, has been named University Scholar for 2007-2008. She is one of 13 faculty members, and the only one from UIS, chosen for this award honoring and rewarding outstanding teachers and scholars at the three U of I campuses.

Materials nominating Burkhardt for the award hailed her as "a model teacher/scholar" who "uses her experience with research, writing, and publishing to benefit UIS students and enrich her classes at all levels." Read more>>

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Media Advisory: Government Accountability and a Free Press

On Wednesday, Noember 7, UIS will host the first two programs in its Government Accountability and a Free Press Project: a luncheon seminar featuring Charles Lewis, president of The Fund for Independence in Journalism, and an evening panel discussion featuring Judith Miller, Pulitzer Prize-winner and former investigative reporter for The New York Times.

The luncheon seminar will begin at noon in the Public Affairs Center Lobby. The discussion featuring Judith Miller will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the PAC Studio Theatre. Read more>>

Annual Hunger Banquet

UIS will host its annual Oxfam Hunger Banquet from 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, November 14, in the LRH Great Room. The event is presented in observance of National Hunger and Homelessness Week and will focus on the theme "Poverty Has a Woman's Face." Read more>>

Annual Faculty Recognition Luncheon

Outstanding accomplishments of UIS faculty were recognized at the fifteenth Faculty Recognition Luncheon, held October 31 in the PAC. The annual event recognizes scholarly achievements of current and emeriti faculty for the previous calendar year in a number of areas.

See a list of faculty who were recognized this year>>

Pre-Law Center to present "The Exonerated"

UIS' Pre-Law Center will present a reading of the play "The Exonerated," by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, as its third annual Fall Forum at 7 p.m. Tuesday, November 13, in Brookens Auditorium. Using mostly their own words, "The Exonerated" tells the story of six people who were wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death. The play was originally produced in 2002 in Los Angeles and off-Broadway in New York, and has been adapted for film by Court-TV. Read more>>

Monday, November 05, 2007

Book discussion marks Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week

UIS will host a discussion of Barbara Ehrenreich's 2001 bestseller, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, November 14, in the Capitol Perks coffee bar area of the PAC lobby. The event is presented in observance of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week – November 11 through 17.

Ehrenreich's book is a look at low-wage America and the realities faced by people who work in these positions. It has been called "a painful but necessary glimpse into our culture's proclivity toward classism, sexism, and racism." Read more>>