Honoring Some of UIC's Best Teachers

Wednesday, April 3, 2013 VOLUME 31 / NUMBER 26 www.uicnews.uic.edu facebook.com/uicnews twitter.com/uicnews UIC NEWS youtube.com/uicmedia For the community of the University of Illinois at Chicago “When I walk into a school, I think, ‘This is why I do this.’” — Carole Mitchener, 2013 winner of the Award for Excellence in Teaching Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin Carole Mitchener, associate professor of education, is one of four winners of the Award for Excellence in Teaching. “I’m so passionate about what we’re doing,” she says of the graduate program she directs, which recruits science teachers for high-need middle and high schools. Read about Mitchener and fellow winners Mark Mattaini, social work, Luigi Salerni, theatre, and Michael Scott, engineering, on page 6. Honoring some of UIC’s best teachers INSIDE: Profile / Quotable 2 | Campus News 4 | Calendar 8 | Student Voice 9 | Police 10 | Deaths 11 | Sports 12 Barbara Risman considers gender Donald Hedeker finds happiness Scholar Robert Remini was the Softball swings series win inequality in biostatistics and polka historian in the House against Loyola More on page 2 More on page 4 More on page 11 More on page 12 2 UIC NEWS I www.uicnews.uic.edu I APRIL 3, 2013 profile Send profile ideas to Gary Wisby, [email protected] Barbara Risman explores cultural expectations of men, women By Gary Wisby A good name for Barbara Risman’s forthcoming book might be Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Gender (But Were Afraid to Ask). “I’ve spent my whole career writing a theory of gender inequality,” said Risman, head of sociology. “The book integrates many of my theoretical papers over the last two decades, with research projects. “It’s a final statement of the pace of change and the lack of change in how we think about feminist theory — an under- standing of how gender inequality is produced and when it begins to lessen.” The first time Risman published a theoretical argument was in her 1998 book Gender Vertigo: American Families in Transition. “The new book pulls together the ideas I’ve been floating for a very long time, illustrated with new research,” she said. Its working title is Gender as a Social Structure: Toward a Utopian Post-Gender Society. The book is due out in 2014. “Every society has a gender structure,” she said. “It’s very different than thinking about how men and women are different — it has to do with what you expect from each other.” Society creates gender inequality on three levels, she said. The first is the individual level. “We raise boys with guns and girls with dolls,” she said. “Girls are taught to be empathetic and nurturing; boys are taught to tough it out and be aggressive.” The second level is interactional. “It involves the expectations of other people,” Risman said. “Even when men and women are in the same position — par- UIC Photo Services ent, boss — people expect them to behave differently. “We raise boys with guns and girls with dolls,” says Barbara Risman, head of sociology, who studies the theory of gender inequality. “An opinionated male boss is a strong leader, while a head- strong, opinionated woman is seen as a bitch.” 2006-2012 and now serves on the board of directors. Before joining UIC, Risman spent two decades at North Women are expected to do emotional work and, at the “Its mission is to bring new research about families to pub- Carolina State University, where she founded the gender and same time, to be less committed to their work, Risman said. lic conversation,” she said. “I work with a lot of journalists and women’s studies program. “Expectations lead to reality sometimes,” she said. find the best scientists for them to interview. UIC hired her in 2007 as head of the sociology depart- “Women think, ‘Maybe I am like that,’ because that’s what the “We also commission white papers when a new study ment. She’s served five years in that capacity and agreed to cultural expectation is.” comes out that should be covered.” three more. The third level is institutional. After Risman wrote an opinion piece for CNN.com, Huff- Risman lives near campus in University Commons with Expectations are built into schools and workplaces that in ington Post asked her to blog for the online publication. her second husband, Randall Liss, head of an educational a hetero-nuclear family, there will be one person who earns a She blogs about once a month, “when I see an issue that consulting firm on finance. She has a daughter, Leah Kane living and “another who takes care of everything else,” Risman would be informed by sociological research and theory. It’s Risman, 27, a social worker in Sacramento, Calif. said. engaged scholarship, bringing it outside the ivory tower. Risman chairs a new neighborhood organization called “This occurs even though we no longer live that way.” “I like to use my academic and research skills for the public Connecting 4 Communities, online at One chapter in her new book is about how people ages 18 good.” connecting4communities.wordpress.com to 25 do or don’t feel constrained by gender. Risman grew up in Lynn, Mass., an industrial town north “I blog weekly about something of interest — plays, jazz “What’s really interesting is that people as young as 6 are of Boston. concerts, famous authors,” she said. “There is not-very-good totally rejecting the sex in which they were born,” she said. “My grandparents were immigrants from Poland and Rus- communication between the university and the people who Risman is heavily involved with the nonprofit Council on sia,” she said. live around it. I’m telling people what they should come to on Contemporary Families. Once housed at UIC, it’s now based She earned a bachelor’s degree at Northwestern University c ampu s .” at the University of Miami. She was executive director from and Ph.D. at the University of Washington in Seattle. [email protected] quotable “Once you throw it together with something like “If it heals, it generally is not a long term issue at all. “It will be remembered as one of the negative aspects Grumpy Cat it’s fun. But was this message intended He should do fine.” of the Daley regime, along with a rubber-stamp City to be fun?” Council, (and) failures to get the big projects (done) Mark Hutchinson, director of sports medicine, on the like a third airport.” Steve Jones, distinguished professor of communication, injury sustained by Kevin Ware during the Louisville/ Duke on the widespread social media sharing and altering of the game, April 1 RedEye Dick Simpson, professor of political science, on the 10th Human Rights Campaign’s red logo in support of gay mar- anniversary of former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley riage, March 28 Associated Press ordering the destruction of Meigs Field, March 31 Chicago Tribune UIC NEWS I www.uicnews.uic.edu I APRIL 3, 2013 APRIL 3, 2013 I UIC NEWS I www.uicnews.uic.edu 3 Shattering the silence on Asian American mental health By Christy Levy For Asian Americans, it’s often taboo to discuss mental “Being in a room where you see health issues, says Rooshey Hasnain. members of your own community But a campuswide initiative is breaking through that silence, hosting a series of programs to bring to light the coming together to acknowledge the struggles Asian Americans face related to mental health. “Mental health is not discussed in our communities and issue is a very powerful experience.” we’re trying to normalize it,” said Hasnain, clinical assistant professor of disability and human development and Asian “We want students to be aware of the fact that these exist, American studies. that they’re welcoming and it’s OK to go there,” she said. “We just don’t talk about it, so there’s this impression that Hasnain is collaborating with Jae Jin Pak, chair of the Asian Americans are not really dealing with these issues.” Asian American Suicide Prevention Initiative, to promote The Asian American Studies Program Community En- wellness resources. gagement Project brings together campus leaders, student “We want to encourage Asian American students who may groups and community organizations to raise awareness of be struggling with academics, family or community, that if it’s mental health issues. a real concern for them, there are places where they can go,” The project is part of UIC’s Asian American and Native Pak said. American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions initiative, a Graduate student Priyang Baxi, a member of a student task five-year grant funded by the U.S. Department of Educa- force that helps organize the initiative’s events, wants students tion and led by Asian American studies professor Kevin to feel comfortable talking about mental health. Kumashiro. “I’ve had friends and family members who, when they ex- Since last fall, the group has hosted documentary screen- perience a mental health situation, keep it within themselves ings and a series of discussions for Asian Americans on because they feel like if they tell anyone they will be judged,” mental health, hate crimes, sexuality and more, Hasnain said Baxi, president of the Asian American Public Health Stu- said. dent Organization. The next campus event, called “The Small, Dark Room,” Illustration: Anna Dworzecka “To prevent any issues like this from occurring in the fu- is a performance by local actors of monologues on mental ture, it’s good to provide the tools of what resources are avail- health. Last semester, students in one of Hasnain’s courses on Halsted, 3656 N.

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