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Dean’s Newsletter

VOLUME 2, ISSUE NO.1

KATHLEEN CASSITY, PH.D. DEAN, COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES TABLE OF CONTENTS

Welcome to the new academic year! Dean’s Message 1

Welcome to campus, Class of 2023! by University of Michigan English professor WOU Events 2 Welcome back to our classes of 2020, ’21 and Kathleen Fitzpatrick. “Generous thinking” is ’22, along with our hard-working faculty and defined as “a mode of engagement that Faculty Publication 3 staff. Our magnificently sunny yet emphasizes listening over speaking, comfortable summer seemed to evaporate community over individualism, and Welcome, Veronica! 3 quickly with the sudden change in weather, collaboration over competition.” Embracing but in addition to the expected Oregon rain generous thinking as a guiding principle has Rainbow Dance TedX 4 we have also enjoyed some glorious fall days. numerous positive implications for all of us in Though fall means we are growing closer to higher education, no matter what role we Fall Babies! 5 the end of the calendar year, for those of us play here. As a group of people who are in the academic world this is also a time of committed to the pursuit of knowledge and Penitentiary Healing Garden 5 new beginnings. to the ideal of education as serving the greater good, WOU is well positioned to be a Ceramics at Capital Manor 5 This academic year marks some especially positive beacon to the surrounding exciting new changes at WOU. We’re pleased community as we continue to go through Welcome, New Wolves! 6-7 to be rolling out our new General Education challenging times. program, along with an appealing line-up of College: Age-defying Experience 8 first-year seminars. As you’ll see in this For the complete script of my address, see newsletter, we’ve recently welcomed many the link at our LAS web site here. One new faculty members to WOU. Collectively, initiative I plan to pursue this year is creation they bring impressive, cutting-edge of a book discussion group, starting with expertise. Here in the Dean’s Office, we’re Generous Thinking and, time permitting, also happy to welcome our new Office moving on to some other thought-provoking Coordinator, Veronica Bailey, who started at books on issues facing higher education WOU on September 3. Read on to learn more today. Stay tuned for further information, . about Veronica. and contact me at [email protected] if . you’re interested in participating. I’m looking As I stated in my opening remarks to the forward to an exciting and groundbreaking College of Liberal Arts & Sciences faculty, academic year. one of the themes that will focus our work together this year is the concept of “generous thinking.” I’ve pulled this idea from a recent book bearing that title, written TITLE DEAN’S NEWSLETTER | Issue # 2

10/14-11/01, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Campbell Hall: Two Water Ways: An exhibit of water paintings by Pam Serra-Wenz and Bill Shumway.

F-Sa, 10/18-10/19, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Western Oregon University: Homecoming & Wolves Reunion Weekend: Celebrating our Golden Wolves (class of 1969), Silver Wolves (class of 1994), and Bronze Wolves (class of 2009). All alumni and friends are welcome! S, 11/23, 2:00 p.m., Smith Hall: faculty and community Drew Swatosh’s Master’s Recital, members. Th, 10/24, 11/07, 10:30 a.m., featuring his own compositions. Bellamy Hall 333: EL Club DE T, 11/26, 7:30 p.m., Smith Hall: F, 12/06, 7:30 p.m., Smith Hall: ESPANOL. Meets every Brass Ensemble & Guitar Western Oregon Voices. Thursday except 10/31. Ensemble. Directed by Directed by Dr. James Reddan, Christopher Woitach, featuring featuring music performed Sa, 10/19, 1:05 p.m., McArthur WOU student and faculty and by WOU students. Field: WOU Football vs. Central faculty musicians. Washington. Homecoming! S, 12/07, 7:30 p.m., Rice Cheer on the Wolves! Student M, 12/02, 7:30 p.m., Rice Auditorium: Smith Fine Arts tickets are free. Auditorium: Spectrum & Presents Kiran Ahluwahlia. Percussion Ensemble. WOU Inspired by India, the repertoire F, 10/25, 7:30 p.m., Smith Hall: music student composers’ work, includes desert and jazz. Jazz Orchestra & Latin Jazz performed by WOU students and Ensemble. Directed by Dr. Keith musicians and mentored by Dr. Karns and featuring WOU Kevin Walczyk and Dr. Carlos

student musicians. Velez.

MTW, 10/28-10/30: ALL DAY at T, 12/03, 7:30 p.m., Rice Werner University Center, Dia de Auditorium: Concert Choir & Los Muertos: Day of the Dead Chamber Singers. Directed by

celebration. Brought to you by Dr. James Reddan, featuring Multicultural Student Union. WOU music students and non- music students. Th, 11/21, 11:00 a.m., Smith Hall: Student Recital: WOU music W, 12/04, 7:30 p.m., Smith Hall:

students performing pieces they String Chamber Ensemble. have studied this term. Directed by Obsidian Garber, featuring WOU music students F, 11/22, 7:30 p.m., Hamersly along with faculty and musically Library: Early Music Ensemble, inclined administrators.

directed by Dr. Dirk Freymuth Th, 12/05, 7:30 p.m., Rice and featuring WOU student, faculty and staff musicians. Auditorium: Wind Ensemble, directed by Dr. Ike Nail and featuring WOU music students,

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Dr. Keven Malkewitz Publishes Article

On March 1, 2019, Dr. Keven Malkewitz, where information sharing within team- Western Oregon University Associate based environments is critical to successful Professor of Marketing, along with his co- product design and development processes. author, Ian Parkman of the University of The results provide insight into how Portland, published an article entitled organizations create, codify and “Design-Driven New Product Development communicate knowledge from different in the Journal of Design, Business, and functional areas and support flows of Society.” This study empirically examines the knowledge. role of product design briefs within design- driven new product development (NPD). Please congratulate Dr. Keven Malkewitz on Contemporary NPD is increasingly seen as a his recent publication. design-driven and knowledge-based activity

Welcome, Veronica!

On September 3rd, we welcomed Veronica During her time as a medical office Bailey to our team. Veronica is new to specialist, Veronica earned her Western Oregon University and will be Bachelor of Arts in history and her working full- time at the front desk in the Master’s degree in higher education. LAS Dean’s Office. Her hours will be 7:30 She is currently taking a break from a.m. to 4:30 a.m. Veronica will be assuming college to spend more time with her Mylisa Behling’s prior duties as well as daughter and take time for herself. She providing assistance to Debbie Braun and eventually has plans to go back to school Dean Cassity. and would love to pursue a Ph.D. that connects her interests in art, history and Veronica is a second-generation Mexican- architecture. American. Her parents were migrant workers, so she has traveled up and down the Veronica is very proud of her daughter, who Pacific Coast from Texas to Washington. Her will be graduating from West Albany High family fell in love with Oregon, so much so School this coming spring. Two that the majority of her childhood was spent, quirky facts about off and on, living in Oregon. When she Veronica is looking forward to getting Veronica: She admits that became an adult she decided to make married next Halloween to her childhood she sometimes combines or reverses Oregon her permanent home. best friend (the kid next door), with the well-known catch phrases (such as “kill two theme being Practical Magic (like the movie) stones with one bird”). Also, at times when Veronica has worn many hats throughout her under a night sky. life thus far. She has worked in agriculture, as she is really excited about something, her mind can be faster than her mouth; she often a line cook, dishwasher, waitress, retail Veronica is a strong believer in positive ends up uses her hands a lot and making associate, loan/collection manager, energy and leads her life with an optimistic sound effects to explain things, like charades. newspaper collection/accounting manager, outlook. She is passionate about her family, medical office specialist, and secretary to the her animals, art, music, history, traveling, Please join the LAS Dean’s Office in assistant superintendent for the Albany road trips, food, experiencing new things and welcoming Veronica to WOU! School district before joining us here at life in general. She enjoys being crafty and WOU. As such, she brings a rich set of skills creative. to our office. TITLE DEAN’S NEWSLETTER | Issue # 4

Rainbow Dance Theatre

at TEDx in Salem Thomas believes that “coding is the new literacy,” one that students only have access to On January 2018, Darryl Thomas, Professor of 2% of the time in K-12 schools. Dance at Western Oregon University, He developed illumiDance as a introduced illumiDance, a combination of way to incorporate technology dance and Illuminated lights, to TEDx in Salem. into learning to facilitate teaching code along with an Thomas states that the Rainbow Dance appreciation for the arts. Thomas Theatre is a celebration of diversity through also believes we need to use dance. He created illumiDance, a union of art technology to investigate new and science, by combining EL wires, computer frontiers with dance, especially coding and body movement. The combination using coding. Found out how Darryl Thomas brings together of art and science create a beautiful and art and science by clicking the link to his TEDx colorful dance structure. Talk in Salem, HERE.

Beautiful Fall Babies!

Congratulations to Kate Connolly and Samantha Morgan in our Humanities Division!

Kate Connolly gave birth to an 8 pound, 2 ounce baby boy named Benjamin Connolly Thomas on August 31, 2019, and Samantha Morgan gave birth to an 8 pound, 1 ounce baby boy named William Neal Morgan on September 24, 2019.

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Japanese-style Healing Garden at the Oregon State Penitentiary

WOU Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Dr. Miyuki Arimoto has been instrumental in developing a Japanese-style healing garden at the Oregon State Penitentiary. Recently, Dr. Arimoto and her co-investigator conducted a pre-garden survey in June exploring inmates’ well-being and opinions of the garden. An opening ceremony is scheduled for November. This will be the first Japanese-style healing garden built at a maximum-security prison in the United States. primary goal of corrections as retribution, yet In addition to delivering her talk, Dr. Arimoto This summer, Ehime University in Japan many are receptive and mentioned that their visited prisons in Matsuyama (Ehime), Futyu invited Dr. Arimoto to discuss differences approach to corrections changed after Dr. (Tokyo) and Onomichi (Hiroshima), along between the U.S. and Japanese prison Arimoto’s presentation. This also helped Dr. with Osaka Prefectural Police, to learn aout systems, along with the healing garden Arimoto understand how the younger operational similarities and differences project. Transformative justice is a new idea generation in Japan thinks about the raison between the U.S. and Japan. to many students in Japan who still see the d’être of prison.

WOU ART PROFESSOR BRINGS CERAMICS TO RESIDENTS AT CAPITAL MANOR

demo of new processes Since fall of 2019, Professor of Art Mary and techniques along Harden has been conducting a monthly with image ceramics workshop for the residents of presentations or hand- Capital Manor in West Salem. Capital Manor outs. The workshops offers a ceramics studio where residents can finish with work time in work on their projects, and each month which Professor Harden Professor Harden meets for about three meets individually with hours with a group of these participants. participants to discuss their ideas, progress, This monthly collaboration continues to be a Together they work to troubleshoot any and specific issues. positive experience for the residents at glazing, firing or construction problems Capital Manor as well as for WOU’s Art encountered between visits, followed by a Department. We plan to continue indefinitely Last November, an enthusiastic group from with this monthly collaboration. Kudos to Capital Manor took a “field trip” to WOU to Professor Mary Harden for her excellent work meet our Art & Design students, the Dean of with these talented community artists! Liberal Arts & Sciences, and the Provost. They also toured our ceramics studios, the Art Department facilities in Campbell Hall, and the WOU campus. The visit ended at

Valsetz Dining Hall, where the Capital Manor residents enjoyed lunch with a group of WOU art students.

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Dr. Taryn VanderPyl Dr. Alex Curry Dr. Tiara Good & Dr. Damian Etta Koshnick & TITLE DEAN’S NEWSLETTER | Issue # 7

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Wesley Snyder Dr. Ryan Topper Dr. Michele Abee Dr. Ricardo Pelegrin

Donna Sinclair TITLE DEAN’S NEWSLETTER | Issue # 8

Stephanie Depascal, 79, started auditing Senior Center, developed the manual. “On classes at Western Oregon University in day one she came in with a game plan for 2016. “To me, that just opened up the whole each week of her practicum,” said Barbara COLLEGE : AN world,” Depascal said. She has audited a Hogan, Senior Center director. “She was variety of courses, from gerontology to early impeccably organized.” Hogan had spoken AGE-DEFYING childhood development, and she is especially with Wehr’s instructor, Assistant Professor interested in behavioral neuroscience. Melissa Cannon, about the project EXPERIENCE beforehand. This is also an opportunity to engage with younger students, and to listen to others’ The guide includes a brief summary about observations. “I’ve made such good friends Cannon and states that, through her who are in their 20s,” Depascal said. “We text research, Wehr has worked to build a all the time.” partnership between the campus and the Wouldn’t college be more fun without the tests, homework and tuition? senior center. “Overall, I was able to take the Depascal started auditing classes before the information I learned about aging and older recently finished guide was completed. The Oregon law allows residents 65 years and adulthood at (WOU) and use it as a way to lack of a guide didn’t hold her back, but she older to audit college courses tuition-free. express the need for change on the campus,” appreciates the efforts to make the process That means they can attend class as a visitor Wehr said. “I am a proud alumna of the clearer. to learn, but not for college credit. The college; however, there are many changes Monmouth Senior Center now has a step-by- that need to occur on campus in order to Hannah Wehr, a WOU student who step guide on how to audit classes at make it more age-friendly.” completed her practicum at Monmouth Western Oregon University.