College of Arts & Sciences 2015-2016 Annual Report Department Reports Wamucii E. Njogu, Dean Marcelo Sztainberg, Associate Dean Katrina Bell-Jordan, Associate Dean College of Arts & Sciences COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES ANNUAL REPORT 2015-2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary 4 African and African American Studies 8 Anthropology 14 Art 18 Biology 30 Chemistry 46 College of Arts and Sciences Education Program (CASEP) 57 Communication, Media and Theatre 62 Computer Science 81 Earth Science* Economics 98 English 103 English Language Program 120 Geography and Environmental Studies 123 History 126 Justice Studies 133 Latino and Latin American Studies 146 Linguistics 152 Mathematics 161 Mathematics Development 166 Music and Dance 175 Philosophy 191 Physics 196 Political Science 202 Psychology and Gerontology MA Program 209 Social Work 226 Sociology 240 Student Center for Science Engagement (SCSE) 257 Teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language 262 Women’s and Gender Studies 269 World Languages and Cultures 278 *Unable to be included. COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES ANNUAL REPORT Executive Summary The 2015-2016 academic year in the College of Arts and Sciences was again full of faculty, staff and student accomplishments. Although it was a challenging year due to state budget uncertainty, our outstanding faculty and staff continued to provide an exceptional environment for teaching and learning. Despite Northeastern‘s enrollment issues in the last few years, the number of degrees conferred has steadily increased. In 2016, the College of Arts and Sciences had a total of 1192 degrees conferred, with an additional five certificates awarded in Geographic Information Sciences. The CAS continues to generate the most credit hours in the University, offering 69,955 (75%) of the total 92,953 credit hours in Fall 2015. This year our highly productive faculty scholars published nearly two hundred books, book chapters, and articles/abstracts, and made numerous presentations, both nationally and internationally. In addition, at least 40 of our faculty received grants or fellowships. Highlights include the following: Ken Nicholson (Chemistry) was Co-PI for a National Science Foundation-Improving Undergraduate Science Education grant (NSF-IUSE); Hardik Marfatia (Economics) earned a ChicagoCHEC partnership grant with faculty from Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Chicago; Joshua Salzmann (History) and Dave Green (Library) co-wrote a grant from the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries; and Andreas Savas Kourvetaris (Sociology) received an Initiation Speaker Grant from Alpha Kappa Delta (AKD) for NEIU alumna Alexis Dennis. The National Institutes of Health-Maximizing Access to Research Careers (NIH-MARC) program, with Co-PIs Breckie Church (Psychology), Emina Stojkovic (Biology) and Joseph Hibdon Jr. (Math), graduated its first cohort of MARC scholars. In 2015-2016, the CAS offered for the first time a Minor in Jewish Studies. This interdisciplinary program offers courses in Political Science, Linguistics, History, English, and World Languages and Cultures. In addition, the Masters of Social Work (MSW) program was approved and its first cohort of students began the two-year program in Fall 2016. Dr. Troy Harden was hired as the new MSW director in January 2016. The College is also pleased to report that the 2015 English & Math: Enrichment, Readiness & Growth Experience (EMERGE) program had another successful summer in support of our incoming students. 4 In April 2016, the CAS was well represented at the 23rd Annual NEIU Student Research and Creative Activities Symposium, as well as NEIU‘s 6th Annual Faculty Research Symposium in November 2015. Likewise, the Student Center for Science Engagement (SCSE) 6th Annual Research Symposium and the 10th Annual Fall Psychology Student Symposium were held in September 2015 and December 2015 respectively. While there were countless other activities and programs this year in the College of Arts and Sciences, we continue to be extremely proud of our partnership with the Division of Student Affairs on NEIU‘s Economic Inequality Initiative. The Economic Inequality Initiative, which officially launched in April 2015, was in full swing by the Fall 2015 semester, with highly a successful and well attended Roundtable event. Some of the events and activities that were part of the Economic Inequality Initiative this year included the opening of the new NEIU Student Food Pantry; an Open Mic series that provided opportunities for discussions ranging from gender to climate change; as well as lectures on topics from financial literacy and borrowing/investment decisions, to transitioning to a global economy. Through collaboration with others on campus and in the community, the goal of the Economic Inequality Initiative is to help students think about and take action to confront the complex causes of growing economic inequality. The Economic Inequality Initiative calendar also highlighted and supported days of service (e.g., Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Cesar Chavez Day), the International Women‘s Day ―Pledge for Parity,‖ and various training sessions offered by the LGBTQA Resource Center, the Undocumented Student Ally Project and The (dis)Ability Project. Taken together, this work also contributes to the University‘s efforts to enhance student learning by adopting and expanding high-impact educational practices, including undergraduate research, service learning, and community-based learning, to increase student engagement and participation in civic life. We were fortunate enough to hire six new faculty members in Fall 2015: Jorge Cantu (Biology), Jeffrey Bulanda (Social Work), Lewis Gebhardt (Linguistics), Xiwei Wang (Computer Science), Shan Wang (Mathematics), and David Kern (Psychology). In the area of promotion and tenure, five faculty members were promoted to full professor: Sangmin Bae (Political Science), Russell Benjamin (Political Science), Jon Hageman (Anthropology), William Sieger (Art), and Charles Steinwedel (History). In addition, 13 faculty were promoted to associate professor and granted tenure: Jacqueline Anderson (Social Work), Marcia Buell (English), Sarah Cordell (Mathematics), Mateo Farzaneh (History), Scott Hegerty (Economics), Jin Kim (Social Work), Christopher Merchant (Psychology), Graciela Perera (Computer Science), Vida Sacic (Art), Shannon Saszik (Psychology), Angela Sweigart-Gallagher (Communication, Media and Theatre), Susan Tang (Music), and Ken Voglesonger (Earth Science). Finally, Laura Sanders (Earth Science) and Russell Zanca (Anthropology) were recommended for a Promotional Advance Increase. 5 Among the eight Professors awarded Emeritus status in December of 2015 were five retirees from the College of Arts and Sciences: Lucrecia Artalejo (WLC), Shelley Bannister (Justice Studies/Women‘s and Gender Studies), David Rutschman (Mathematics), Zachary Schiffman (History), and Venetia Stifler (Music and Dance). The College is proud to report that Ana Fraiman, (Chemistry) was the recipient of the 2016 Audrey Reynolds Distinguished Teaching Award. One of the finalists of this award, Dan Milsky (Philosophy), is a College of Arts and Sciences faculty member. Likewise, Saba Ayman-Nolley (Psychology) has won the 2015-16 Janet Lerner Faculty Research Scholarship Award. We are also delighted that two CAS faculty members received Fulbright Scholar Awards for 2015-2016: Brandon Bisbey, (Spanish) and Kristen Over (English). Additional recognition is being given to three CAS instructors who received NEIU Instructor/Academic Support Professional/Academic Resource Professional Excellence Awards: Nikolas Hoel (History), Cheryl Park (Biology), and John Ross (Communication, Media and Theatre), as well as to Michael J. Partipilo (Geography and Environmental Studies), who was the recipient of the 2016 Civil Service Employee Excellence Award. Fifteen CAS faculty received a Faculty Excellence Award in 2016 (for work during the 2014-2015 academic year): Teaching/Performance of Primary Duties Rachel Adler, Computer Science Rachel Birmingham, Justice Studies Elyse Bolterstein, Biology Joseph Hibdon Jr., Mathematics Vida Sacic, Art Cindy Voisine, Biology Research/Creative Activities Eze Chielozona, English Mateo Farzaneh, History Alfred Frankowski, Philosophy Brooke Johnson, Sociology Judith Kaplan-Weinger, Linguistics Nathan Mathews, Art Sarah Orlofske, Biology Shencheng Xu Service Shayne Pepper, Communication, Media and Theatre 6 The following Civil Service Employees, Administrative and Professional Employees, and Faculty were recognized at the 2016 Annual Years of Service Awards Celebration: 30 YEARS: Laura Sanders (Earth Science) 25 YEARS: Vicki Byard (English), Andrew Eisenberg (History), Ana Fraiman (Chemistry) 20 YEARS: John Kasmer (Biology), Timothy Libretti (English), Wamucii Njogu (College of Arts and Sciences), Theophilus Okosun (Justice Studies) 15 YEARS: Bradley Greenburg (English), Lucia Lombardi (World Languages and Cultures), Victor Ortiz (Sociology), Michael J. Partipilo (Geography and Environmental Studies), Jorge Perez (Music), Charles Steinwedel (History) 10 YEARS: Paulo Acioli (Physics), Dwan Buetow (Physics), Cristina Joe (History), David Nissim-Sabat (College of Arts and Sciences), Alicia Perez (TESOL), Edie Rubinowitz (Communication, Media and Theatre), Stefan Tsonchev (Chemistry), Heather Weber (Art) 5 YEARS: Wilfredo Alvarez (Communication, Media and Theatre), Brandon Bisbey (World Languages and Cultures), Robert Hall (Linguistics), Joseph Hibdon Jr.