Faculty Excellence
July 2024
Dr. Jenny Mueller appeared as an interviewee in "A Bigger Table: 50 Years of the Chicago Poetry Center"
a documentary directed by Moyo Abiona. The documentary explores the Chicago Poetry
Center's history "from its roots as a platform for censored writers to its present-day
mission as the organization continues to build a bigger table for poets in Chicago
and beyond." Jenny attended the premiere of the documentary and its accompanying exhibition
at the Poetry Foundation in Chicago on July 13, 2024.
Dr. Mueller also read her poetry and displayed a mixed media work at the Residency
at the Farm in Argyle, Wisconsin. This public Residency Showcase event took place
on June 16, 2024, at the Argyle Public Library. A subsequent exhibition of work by
15 former artists from Residency at the Farm, including Jenny, runs through August
25 at the Blanchardville Public Library in Blanchardville, Wisconsin.
June 2024
During 2023, McKendree University's Athletic Training Staff issued 200+ various Red Cross training certifications. This month the program was recognized with a certificate from the American Red Cross. The recognition "symbolizes the dedication and the patience it took to teach so many, the work that was put in to educating community members in lifesaving skills, and the extraordinary efforts at maintaining a training agency. Not only has McKendree University made lifelong impacts on the individuals taught, but also, you’ve directly impacted the individuals those certified participants will encounter throughout the rest of their lives."
Dr. Kelly Stewart was the keynote speaker for The Greater Belleville Chamber of Commerce's 100th Anniversry
Celebration. Dr. Stewart addressed the crowd about the Power of Positive Leadership.
Dr. Tim Ros published an article, "Improving Critical Digital P ving Critical Digital Pedagogy" in the Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development. To access the article, please follow the link
below:
https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/ojwed/vol12/iss1/3/
Dr. Alan Alewine, associate provost and professor of mathematics, participated in a research study for
the College Board. The study was conducted in an effort to ascertain whether the current
exams align with college calculus curricula, which can vary across institutions.
May 2024
On May 22, Provost Tami Eggleston and the Office of Academic Affairs hosted the annual Academic Retreat, where faculty and staff gather to plan for the academic future of McKendree. This year's overall theme centered on retention and how the new retention plan runs parallel to the university's recently launched U.N.I.T.E.D Strategic Plan. At each retreat, attendees "travel" to fun locales or embark on an adventure (e.g. Disney World, Mardi Gras, or a treasure hunt). This year's retreat was "held" at a concert.
McKendree students and faculty presented research at the Midwestern Psychological
Association’s Annual Convention on April 19th and 20th in Chicago, IL. Brynne Luebbers
(Biopsychology, 24), Philipp Schmidt (Biopsychology, 24), and Mia Wylie (Psychology,
25) were coauthors on two posters with their research supervisor Dr. Guy Boysen. The
first poster, entitled “Affordance Management Theory and Variations in Perceived Mental
Illness Threat,” outlined variations in people’s beliefs about the threat associated
with various types of mental illness. The results showed that perceptions of threat
are specific to individual disorders and specific evolutionarily important goals such
as physical safety and child protection. The second poster, entitled “Moral Injury
Among College Teachers: Prevalence, Types, and Negative Effects,” reported on a national
survey of college teachers’ experiences with work-related violations of their morals
or ethics. The results showed that 67% of teachers had experienced such violations
and that these moral injury events were associated with increased symptoms of posttraumatic
stress. The students collaborated with Dr. Guy Boysen on the projects as part of a Psychology Research Practicum course.
Dr. Jenny Mueller has been awarded a one-week artist's residency at the Residency on the Farm in Argyle, Wisconsin, June 9-15.
Dr. Martha Patterson was awarded a Hutchins Family Fellowship at Harvard University for the Spring 2025
semester. In residence as a Hutchins Family Fellow, Patterson will be at work on two
book-length projects: an alternative history of the Chicago Black Renaissance and
a crossover popular history of the trope of the New Negro.
Dr. Shelly Lemons, History, was elected to be the 2025 President for the Southwestern Historical Association (SWHA). The SWHA is an affiliate of the Southwestern Social Sciences Association. Dr. Lemons most recently served as SWHA History Program Chair for the annual conference in New Orleans. "I have been participating in this organization since 1997 when I came as a graduate student. It is always good to connect with my peers and share research," Dr. Lemons commented. Dr. Lemons will preside over the SWHA at the 2025 meeting in Las Vegas.
Dr. Brenda Boudreau's book Abortion in Popular Culture: A Call to Action recently won the Susan Koppelman Award for the Best Anthology, Multi-Authored, or Edited book in Feminist Studies in Popular and American Culture
This award honors Susan Koppelman, a feminist literary historian and the editor of groundbreaking critical collections of American women’s short stories. The award recognizes groundbreaking feminist work in popular culture.
The Journal of Political Science Education is celebrating its 20th anniversary by recognizing their top ten cited articles. Dr. Brian Frederking's article titled “Simulations and Student Learning” in 2006 is on the list.
The nursing division hosted Barnes Jewish Christian (BJC) Memorial Hospital Leadership Symposium on April 12th from 9:00-3:00 pm. BJC is a leading healthcare organization. The nursing division has been working with representatives from BJC Memorial and Shiloh to enhance partnership opportunities for continued growth in the RN to BSN, MSN, and DNP programs. On April 12th, over forty-five leaders from Memorial Belleville and Shiloh were present to engage in the conference and lunch. Nursing faculty, Dr. Kendra Taylor, Dr. Richelle Rennegarbe, and Dr. Angela Gilbreth presented on key leadership components during the conference. Through the collaborative partnership, continuing education credits were obtained and provided to attendees. Excellent feedback from attendees was received during and after the conference. BJC Memorial has already tentatively scheduled the next Leadership Symposium to occur at McKendree University in April 2025. Pictured is Dr. Kendra Taylor presenting on Building Financial Prowess and Writing a Powerful Business Plan.
April 2024
On Thursday April 4th, Ana Cecilia Carvalho (sophomore) and Dr. Tyson Thomas (associate professor of economics) attended the 2024 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Women in Economics Symposium. The purpose of this annual symposium is to highlight the contributions of women in the field of economics. The event included a mock networking session as well as discussion sessions relating to potential career paths in the field of economics and job search tips for starting a career upon graduation. Ana Cecilia even had the opportunity to meet the new president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Alberto Musalem!
Ana Cecilia had this to say about the event. “I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to attend the symposium! It was amazing hearing so many inspiring women and their paths in the economics field! I gained so much knowledge hearing their experiences, and I feel more prepared for when it is my turn to enter the job market! The event opened up my mind about all the possibilities and opportunities that are out there once I graduate! I can’t wait for more opportunities like this symposium in the future!”
Dr. Ann Collins signed a book contract with Rowman & Littlefield for their American Ways Series.
The book, tentatively titled Fear, Fury, and Power: A Concise History of Race Massacres in the United States, will be a general interest book on race massacres throughout American history and
their legacy on politics and society today.
Dr. Darryn Diuguid, professor of Education, has been invited to join the NCTE Excellence in Poetry Award
where the committee will “honor an American poet for their aggregate work for children
ages three through 13. The committee will also explore ways to acquaint teachers and
children with poetry through such means as publications, programs, and displays.”
Last year, the committee recommended over 15 poetry books along with 7 novels in verse
from over 200 possible texts. Famous poets who have received the individual award
include Georgia Heard, Nikki Grimes, Janet Wong, and J. Patrick Lewis.
Dr. Angela Gilbreth presented at the Sigma Theta Tau Creating Healthy Work Environments 2024 Conference. I was invited to present at the Sigma Theta Tau Creating Healthy Work Environments 2024 Conference held in Washington D.C. Presentation included the use of technology to support the health of the work environment and support safe communication practices during healthcare staffing challenges.
Claire Reinert (library) published an article, "The Picts: A Lens for Teaching Through Evidential Uncertainty" in the journal Art Education (vol. 77, no. 2). This article is about using the archaeological artwork of the Picts in the K-12 classroom as a way to creatively engage with the artwork of poorly understood civilizations and to familiarize students with critically navigating evidential uncertainty.
March 2024
Dr. Michael Downton's EDU 401 - Methods of Teaching Fine Arts As part of their final project, students are asked to pick a social justice issue as it relates to education (e.g., education access disparity) and represent it in some artistic medium. Students must research the topic and then decide how it will represented. Students in EDU 401 will display their work during the last week of April or first week of May for the Bearcat community!
Dr. Angela Gilbreth was invited to present at the Sigma Theta Tau Creating Healthy Work Environments 2024 Conference held in Washington D.C. Presentation included
the use of technology to support the health of the work environment and support safe
communication practices during healthcare staffing challenges.
Dr. Darryn Diuguid completed his work on the 2024 Caldecott Award Committee.
The Caldecott Award is widely considered to be among the most prestigious in children’s
literature. Books selected by the committee will become part of the canon of distinguished
children’s books for years to come. The award has international recognition, representing
the professional experience and
critical discernment of the librarians who serve on the committee each year.
Over 20,000 trade books are published for children in the U.S. annually, and
many are picture books, eligible for consideration for the Caldecott. Dr. Diuguid
committed to and fully participated in the intense and time-consuming selection process:
reading, evaluating, discussing, and selecting the year’s most distinguished picture
books. The Committee Chair had the following to say about Dr. Diuguid "I was impressed
by his focused engagement and excellent, insightful observations. He was instrumental
in maintaining the distinguished traditions of the Caldecott Award."
The Utah State Board of Education has invited Dr. Katie Alford from the McKendree School of Education to share her work on teaching listening in
the English Language Arts classroom on Wednesday, March 13th. Teachers from around
the state of Utah will take part in a workshop designed by Dr. Alford titled: "Why
YOU Should Teach Listening Explicitly & How to Do It Well."
The St. Clair County Historical Society Board of Directors elected Dr. Shelly Lemons to serve a two-year term as President of the organization. Dr. Lemons is the 31st President of the St. Clair County Historical Society.
Dr. Lemons plans to focus on connection, collaboration, and community as her Presidential priorities and goals. She says, "Local history is so important to who we are as a community. I really hope that I can help to encourage people, especially first-time visitors, to see their part in the story of St. Clair County."
Dr. Brian Frederking was the "word guy" for the St. Louis Regional Scripps Spelling Bee on Saturday, March 2. The winner of the Spelling Bee goes to the national spelling bee broadcast each year on ESPN. This is Dr. Frederking's eighth year giving definitions and alternate pronunciations and using the words in sentences during the bee.
Our MBA in Digital Marketing program has been ranked #4 in TechGuide's prestigious 2024 rankings! This achievement is a testament to our faculty, students, and alumni's hard work, dedication, and passion. We believe it reflects the exceptional quality of education we strive to offer at our institution. A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to making this program successful. Let's continue innovating, inspiring, and leading in digital marketing! For more details on the ranking and what makes our program stand out, check out the link: https://techguide.org/mba/digital-marketing/
February 2024
Dr. Brenda Boudreau has two new publications in 2024:
“On the Road to “Happy Abortions”: Reclaiming Sexual Agency for Young Women Through the Abortion Narrative.” Accepted for publication in Teens Onscreen. Edited by Tim Shary.
Abortion in Global Popular Culture: The Decision Heard Round the World. Co-edited with Kelli Maloy. Contract with Lexington Books. Publication anticipated for Fall 2024.
McKendree University has again won the Greater St. Louis stock contest organized by Scout Investments, and received an award of $5,000. Students of undergraduate Investment class of 2021 chose a portfolio of twenty stocks to hypothetically invest a total of $1,000,000.
A stock portfolio chosen by a McKendree University investment class in 2016 outperformed those of four other local institutions to take the $10,000 top prize in the St. Louis Area Stock Contest. Guided by Dr. M. Faisal Safa, Associate Professor of Finance, each student selected two competing stocks from the same industry and conducted a detailed financial and market risk-return analysis over two months. In November 2021, McKendree University submitted the list of stocks, and the investment was held for two years.
At the contest’s conclusion in December 2023, the McKendree University portfolio had grown to $1,083,853. The participating students were Ratik Khanna, Jacob Gall, Logan Boente, Kyle Steve, Tyler Christy, Trevor Wolf, Elliott Prott, Ethan Larson, Charles Fraser-Allen, Noah Fishel, Kenzie Meadows, Samuel Mueth, Nikita Sokov, Garrett Herring, Robert Tedesco, Samuel Steimel.
Psychology student Peyton Osgood (23) and faculty member Dr. Guy Boysen have published a new study about how the test formats can affect students’ ability to self-assess their learning. Testing students to help them learn is a standard, evidence-based practice in education. However, Osgood and Boysen showed that students think they know more after taking a multiple-choice test compared to when they take an open-ended test. Multiple-choice tests seem to cause overconfidence in learning because they are relatively easy – students only need to recognize the correct answers rather than produce them from memory. The article “Test Format, Learning Confidence, and Perceptions of Teaching Effectiveness,” in press at Teaching of Psychology, is currently available online (https://doi.org/10.1177/00986283231226187). Teaching of Psychology is the official journal of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, which is a division of the American Psychological Association. The article represents Osgood and Boysen’s fifth journal publication together.
Peyton Osgood was also a MITACS-Fulbright Scholar in 2022 and received the Technos International Prize from McKendree University in 2023.
Dr. Mike Louison presented the results of a research project on microplastic
pollution, entitled "Differential foraging response to multiple microplastic types by bluegill Lepomis macrochirus" at the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology's annual conference in Seattle, WA. This research was done in collaboration with the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, with the students selected separately to work with Dr. Louison at the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center in East Alton, IL.
January 2024
The School of Business hosted the FBLA Southwestern Area Conference on January 11. Approximately 287 students were in attendance from area high schools.
The Illinois Board of Higher Education awarded the Division of Nursing $150,000 for the FY24 Nursing School Grant. The grant funds will be used to provide tuition assistance to twenty new RN to BSN students from Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network members (ICAHN) and Southern Illinois Public Health Consortium (SIPHC) members. Each student will be awarded $7500 towards their tuition. The purpose of the Nursing School Grant Program is to increase the number of registered nurses graduating from Illinois institutions of higher learning. The Division of Nursing focused on individuals who live and work in rural areas in Illinois and providing those individuals with access to higher education.
Dr. Angela LaMora received a publishing contract with Cognella for her
book Thinking Your Way thru A&P. The book showcases Dr. LaMora’s critical thinking riddles with an instructor guide containing the learning objectives and information scaffolding needed to help students solve each question. The book should be published by 2025.
Dr. Martha Patterson, professor of English, has been offered an advanced contract with Princeton University Press for The New Negro: A History, 1887-1933. Dr. Patterson will be the lead co-editor with Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. for a groundbreaking anthology of period essays tracing the evolution of arguably the most important anti-racist figure in African American history.
Dr. Patterson has also been offered a contract for The Harlem Renaissance Weekly: Reading the New Negro in Jazz Age Black Newspapers with Cambridge University Press. Her book traces the figure of the New Negro in popular African American fiction published in Black newspapers during the 1920s. Dr. Patterson shows that it was not Alain Locke’s implicitly male New Negro who defined the Harlem Renaissance Weekly, but rather the New Negro Woman, who, almost invariably in the context of a heteronormative love plot, propelled narratives, spurred sales, and defined a distinctly modern Black socio-political consciousness.
Both books should be published in 2025.
Dr. Darryn Diuguid, professor of education, recently completed two presentations at the NCTE National Conference in Columbus, Ohio. For the roundtable presentation, Creating Pathways by Using Pronouns: Exploring
Children’s Books about Pronoun Usage and How Teachers Incorporate the Topic, Dr. Diuguid surveyed educators to see how they incorporated pronouns in the general education classroom, and he shared the results with colleagues. Additionally, the participants explored children’s books as tools to start conversation around the topic. For his second presentation, Classroom Idea Exchange: Critical Analysis of a Library Resource Center, Dr. Diuguid shared one of his project-based assignments which has students analyzing young adult library spaces in terms of representation, accessibility, and appearance. In addition, Dr. Diuguid reviewed conference proposal for this national conference.
Dr. Tami Eggleston, Provost, completed her recertification as a Certified Mental Performance Consultant through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology.
December 2023
Brian Frederking's 2023 book Renegotiating the Liberal Order: Evidence from the UN Security Council
received an excellent review from Perspectives on Politics, the official publication
of the American Political Science Association that reviews new books in the discipline.
The review, which included a second book, concludes: "These are books for our time.
Both represent the types of thinking needed for renegotiating the liberal order. Tatum’s
historical overview deepens our vision of liberalism, its troubling drift into paternalism
and arrogance, and its future possibilities. Frederking’s rigorous data-making effort
produces concrete, social-scientific understandings of how liberal institutions have
worked in the past. Both theoretical vision and systematic evidence will prove essential
in addressing the shortcomings of the current liberal international order."
Angela Gilbreth, Assistant Professor of Nursing, recently shared her
research through a poster presentation at Memorial Hospital's 2023 Research Symposium.
This one day event offered the opportunity to engage with fellow healthcare professionals
regarding evidence-based practice initiatives to guide the advancement of healthcare.
Angela presented her poster on Incivility, the Impact, and the Ability to Overcome.
Her research supports the use of technology to engage healthcare professionals with
organizational initiatives to enhance patient outcomes and a conducive working environment.
McKendree's Robotic Club led by Dr. Ahed Elmsallati offers students the opportunity to master various sensors and explore different operating
systems and interfaces. The club provides a dynamic environment to broaden your knowledge
and practical experience. Students not only gain valuable insights into cutting-edge
technologies but also develop problem-solving skills and creativity essential in today's
rapidly evolving tech landscape.
McKendree University's cybersecurity MBA program is ranked #19 in Cybersecurity Guide’s 2024 rankings. Please see the rankings below: https://cybersecurityguide.org/programs/cybersecurity-mba/
November 2023
Dr. Brian Frederking will have a chapter in a forthcoming book titled "Short Games and Active Learning in Political Science: Beating the Clock" published by Taylor and Francis. The book includes dozens of simulations and games that professors can use in one class period. The chapter is titled "Campus Speech Code Committees," and it describes a simulation about a variety of free speech issues.
In addition to his forthcoming book chapter, Dr. Frederking, along with several McKendree students, hosted McKendree's fall Model United Nations conference on November 13-14. Sixteen high schools and nearly 400 students attended the conference. This was the 52nd annual fall conference. McKendree has the sixth longest running Model United Nations conference in the country.
Participating schools included Althoff, Belleville East, Belleville West, Chirstian Brothers College, Freeburg, Gibault, Highland, Lebanon, Litchfield, Mascoutah, O'Fallon, Okawville, Pana, Springfield, Triad, and Valmeyer.
Dr. Tami Eggleston was on the Keynote speaker panel at the annual Society for College and University
Planning Conference in St. Louis Missouri. Their presentation was entitled, "Independent
but interrelated: A panel discussion with three institutions."
Dr. Eric Abrams took students from his Economics of Pizza and Other Victuals class to Peel Pizza in O'Fallon, IL, where they heard from co-owner Patrick Thirion. Delicious pizza was enjoyed by all.
Dr. Darryn Diuguid and colleagues Tadayuki Suzuki and Barbara Ward, published the journal article “Taking
a Closer Look at the American Library Association’s 2022 Rainbow Book List” in Multicultural Education. The researchers reviewed 16 picture books and then suggested ways for academics
to be “innovative educators” when working with and talking about the LGBTQIA + population.
Specifics included queering your space, analyzing your book collection, using new
digital tools to diversify your library, and adding book talks to your teaching repertoire.
The group then analyzed missing identities in the latest Rainbow Book List and made
suggestions to publishers, authors, and educators.
Dr. Ann Collins contributed a chapter to a new edited book, Red Reckoning: The Cold War and the Transformation of American Life. The chapter focuses on race relations during the Cold War, specifically the hypocricy
of the United States in promoting democracy across the world as it denied equal political
and economic rights to some of its own citizens.
Two faculty presented at the 22nd Annual Focus on Teaching and Technology Conference at UMSL. Dr. Shelly Lemons presented #certifiablycurious: Using Pop-Ups to Engage Creativity and Curiosity. In the session, the audience learned how Pop-Up Exhibits from the world of public history can be applied to classroom, the campus, and beyond for building community and a sense of belonging. Pop-Ups are relevant, educational, and fun while also being simple, engaging, and easy to implement.
Dr. Sara Frank joined a panel of award-winning faculty from FTTC sponsoring institutions who offered
insights and practical examples to illustrate ways to hold students' attention and
focus on learning.
October 2023
Dr. Richelle Rennegarbe, DNP Program Director and Professor of Nursing
and Dr. Jennifer Harre, Chief Nursing Officer/Vice President Patient Services at
Southern Illinois Healthcare (SIH) presented “Achieving System Strategic Goals Through
Agile Learned Experiences” at the 2023 Illinois Organization of Nurse Leaders 2023
Annual Conference in Naperville, IL. The presentation focused on the academic-practice
partnership used agile learning experiences for an innovative and unique opportunity
to support the partnering healthcare system in meeting their strategic goals.
Dr. Allie Helfrich was selected to speak on the Social Media Learning Strategies panel at the Marketing Management Conference in Orlando, Florida.
Angela Gilbreth DNP, RN, CLS, EBP-C attended the Illinois Organization of Nurse Leaders (IONL) annual
conference. Angela is an IONL director for regions 4/5. During the conference she
presented her research on Incivility, the Impact, and the Ability to Overcome through
a poster presentation. Excellent conversation occurred through the presentation to
advance healthcare through the use of technology.
Dr. Tim Ros attended the AAACE Conference in Lexington and participated in a panel discussion hosted by the Commission on Workforce and Professional Development on AI. The panel session was titled “Revolutionizing Adult and Workforce Education: Harnessing the Power of AI.”
September 2023
Dr. Guy Boysen will be serving as the Editor for a special issue of the Journal Teaching of Psychology focusing on the impact of AI for the field. A description of the special issue and the journal can be found here: https://teachpsych.org/resources/Documents/top/ToP%20AI%20Special%20issue%20Call.docx.pdf
McKendree psychology students published research on the instruction of exceptional students. Peyton Osgood (Psychology, 23) Marissa Barauskas (Biopsychology, 24),) were coauthors with Dr. Guy Boysen on the paper entitled “Methods of Engaging With Psychology’s Best Students: A Survey of Teachers at 4-year Colleges and Universities,” which will be published in the Americ
an Psychological Association’s journal Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology. The students completed the research as part of a Psychology Research Practicum course with Dr. Boysen. In previous research, Dr. Boysen had explored how teachers handle difficult students in the classroom. As a follow-up, this research examined how teachers engage with their best students. For the study, psychology faculty from 4-year colleges and universities completed a survey about their best students, those students who they find most rewarding and enjoyable to work with. Teachers described their best students as being engaged and motivated, as possessing strong intellectual abilities, and as having positive personality traits. The most common methods teachers used to engage their best students were providing research opportunities, personal contact, and enriching classroom activities. However, the teachers also reported that they had less time than they would like to spend engaging their best students because of the high demands placed on them by other students.
Dr. Tami Eggleston was an invited speaker for a consortium of community colleges sharing best practices in the assessment of student learning outcomes. Tami Eggleston was involved with a variety of Higher Learning Commission (HLC) activities this summer including being a team Chair for a university on their open pathway year four review, participating on a Review Panels for Quality Initiative Proposals for colleges, and being on Federal Compliance Panel.
August 2023
Greater St. Louis Stock Contest is focused on student participation in stock choice
for investment. Students analyze and choose 20 stocks and the organizer puts a virtual
$1 million (equally distributed) on these 20 stocks and observes the investment for
two years. This particular contest Started May 2021 and ended April 2023.
Students of Dr. Safa’s ‘Investment’ class at both undergraduate and graduate level and ‘Financial Market and Institutions’ class participated in this contest. Students in these classes carry out a project where they choose two stocks for a complete analysis, including financial analysis, market trend analysis, Industry analysis, risk-return analysis, and current investment news analysis. At the end of the project, each student suggests one of the two stocks to invest in. These stocks are further reviewed by all students in the class with the guidance of the professor. The selected 20 stocks were selected: Tesla, Inc., Alibaba Group Holding Limited, Microsoft Corporation, Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com, Inc., Meta Platforms, Inc., The Walt Disney Company, AT&T Inc., Twitter, Inc., NIO Inc., General Electric Company, Bank of America Corporation, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Pfizer Inc., General Motors Company, Verizon Communications Inc., Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Mastercard Incorporated, Walmart Inc.
The investment of $1 million resulted in $794,369 at the end of April 2023.
McKendree also won this contest in 2019, 2012, and 2010.
Dr. Nichole DeWallMcKendree University Professor of English Dr. Nichole DeWall recently assumed the role of contributing editor at one of the largest international publications of teaching and learning in higher education, The Teaching Professor. In this capacity, she will write a monthly feature that will reach more than 10,000 educators at universities and colleges worldwide. Her first essay, “Too Exhausted to Take Students to An Event? Do It Anyway,” appeared in the August 2023 edition of the journal.
Founded in 1987 by pioneer of the scholarship of teaching and learning Maryellen Weimer, The Teaching Professor is a source of cutting-edge information and inspiration for more than 10,000 educators at universities and colleges worldwide. DeWall joins world-renowned experts Stephen L. Chew, Regan A. R. Gurung, Paul Hanstedt, and Mays Imad.
July 2023
Dr. Richelle Rennegarbe, Professor of Nursing was chosen to complete exam development and item writing for
the Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS) Examination through the Institute
for Healthcare Improvement & PSI Services. Dr. Rennegarbe successfully gained the
CPPS in June 2021.
June 2023
Dr. Jenny Mueller published "Lisel Mueller, 27240 N. Longwood Dr.," in New Territory magazine as part
of its Literary Landscapes web series. To read Dr. Mueller's work please visit this
link: https://newterritorymag.com/literary-landscapes/
Dr. Mueller also had the following poems accepted for publication: "Antler" and "To close the book" will be published in 2023 by Poetry Salzburg Review (University of Salzburg, Austria) and the long poem "From 'The Large Glass'" will be published in 2023 by Allium: A Journal of Poetry and Prose (Columbia College-Chicago).
Over Memorial Day weekend, Breanna Sampo
(Psychology, ‘23) and Charlee Taylor (Psychology, ‘23) accompanied Dr. Michael Hahn to the 2023 Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention in Washington,
D.C. Breanna and Charlee presented a poster entitled, “The Effects of Yoga on Mental
Health Outcomes” during a Friday’s poster session. The project was originally a research
proposal submitted by Breanna for an assignment in Dr. Hahn’s Research Methods course.
The three worked collaboratively over the course of the 2022-2023 academic year to
prepare the IRB materials, collect and analyze data from an international sample,
and create the poster. While Breanna and Charlee graduated this past spring, they
still plan to work with Dr. Hahn this summer to submit a manuscript of their research
to a peer-reviewed journal.
Dr. Shelly Lemons, History, presented at the Agricultural History Conference in Knoxville, TN, June
8-10, 2023. Her presentation, "Sew What? Fashioning Self-Identity Through
Home Demonstration and 4H Club Wardrobe Planning in 1930s Cimarron County, Oklahoma"
was part of a panel--"Creating It Ourselves"--that included Dr. Jenny Barker-Devine,
Illinois College, and Dr. Steve Kite, University of Arkansas-Fort Smith.
Dr. Lemons explored the ways in which Great Depression-era rural women used their domestic spaces as laboratories for female leadership and self-expression. The research examined ways in which wardrobe programs in Home Demonstration (HDC) and 4-H Clubs functioned not only as a means to secure material necessities but also to showcase personal style and expressions of self-identity. Lemons explained, "At first, I was trying to figure out if these women were trying to emulate middle class, urban style. But what I found was that they often sewed whatever patterns they were given. Did they look like the middle class? Maybe. But so what? The pride they expressed in their own textile work and products was much more meaningful to them. I guess that makes the title a bit of an inside joke!"
As shown in HDC report narratives and photographs, women and girls expressed their
personality and identity through clothing; honed their sewing skills to create outfits
and dresses, often from repurposed materials; and coached one another in methods of
textile construction as well as in beauty and physical appearance. Through their work
in HDCs and 4-H, rural Oklahoma women made dresses considered both flattering and
practical. Modeling their finished textiles, they shared their creations with one
another at club meetings, through local wardrobe reviews, and in state fair competitions.
For women in Cimarron County during the 1930s, wardrobe demonstration programs were
also set against a backdrop of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Using government
programs promoted by Department of Agriculture Extension Services, Oklahoma Panhandle
women used wardrobe demonstrations to shape their own lives and fashion their own
self-identity.
Fun fact: while putting the finishing touches on her visual slides, Lemons discovered
that a pair of her favorite thrifted
shoes were featured in advertisements for 1930s attire. "As soon as I saw that, I
knew what shoes I had to wear for my presentation," commented Lemons. Paired with
a vintage 1930s street dress, she literally modeled her research subject at the conference.
"People noticed. It was fun to be able to share that side story with the audience,
too."
What's next? Lemons hinted at bigger plans, saying, "This piece is part of a larger idea for a book project that Dr. Kite and I are developing. We are really excited to see where this work takes us!"
