Winter 2006 (PDF - Spelman College

Spelman Salutes
Academics Achievements & Awards
Ms. Barbara Nesin, associate professor of art, made a presentation titled “Art in
Times of Trouble” at the annual conference of the Haitian Studies Association in
October 2005.
The research of Dr. Marshalita Sims Peterson, associate professor of education,
facilitated the opening of University Community Academy charter school
(Atlanta Public Schools) located in the Atlanta West End community in August
2002. She continues to work with the academy through the Charter School Initiative
that includes professional development activities and after-school programming.
The current enrollment of the charter school, serving children in grades K–8, is 360.
Also, Dr. Peterson serves as co-advisor for the “Beyond the Gates Reading Enrichment
Program” sponsored by Ms. Spelman College and The Spelman Court. The
program provides Saturday enrichment activities in the areas of literacy and integrated
content for children in grades K–5. Also, Dr. Peterson has established a partnership
with the DeKalb County School System through a Teacher & Student
Support Initiative. In addition to working directly with three high schools in DeKalb
County, Dr. Peterson has initiated a Junior Teacher Academy that provides professional
development/instructional support activities and college-bound activities for
students in DeKalb County.
Dr. Colm Mulcahy, associate professor of mathematics, was the banquet speaker
at the Mathematical Association of America Seaway Section meeting at the State
University of New York Geneseo on October 28, 2005, in Geneseo, New York. The title
of his speech was “Eine Kleine Nachtmagie.”
Professor Ayoka Chenzira, director of the Digital Moving Image Salon at Spelman,
spent the week of December 6–13, 2005, in Rouen, France. She was invited to
participate as a panelist in the “Corps de Textes” (“Bodies of Text”) Festival dedicated
to contemporary creation in North America. Professor Chenzira screened several
of her films at the University of Rouen and engaged in discussion after the
screenings.
Ms. Sheilaree McDaniel, administrative assistant for Career Planning and
Development, received a master of education in instructional technology from
American Intercontinental University on June 18, 2005.
Clayton State technology management major Ms. Katina Henderson-
Hawkins, research analyst for Spelman Institutional Advancement, received a
$3,000 scholarship from the Georgia Executive Women’s Network. She graduated
with an associate of applied technology degree in criminal justice from DeKalb
Technical College and transferred to the Clayton School of Technology bachelor of
applied science program. She plans to attend law school upon completion of her
bachelor’s degree.
Shevann Monet Culmer, a junior with a double major in international studies
and Spanish, will spend spring semester 2006 in Seville, Spain, thanks to an International
Studies Program Scholarship from the Council on International Educational
Exchange.
Junior drama major Keosha Y. Thomas will have the opportunity to spend an
entire semester in the United Kingdom thanks to the Benjamin A. Gilman International
Scholarship Program. She recently won the $5,000 Gilman Scholarship to
study at Goldsmith College of the University of London through Arcadia University.
This fall at Spelman, Ms. Thomas appeared in the drama State of Mind and worked
behind the scenes as the costume coordinator for the play Blues for an Alabama
Sky by Pearl Cleage, C’71, playwright, novelist and Spelman’s 2005–2006 Cosby
endowed professor in the humanities.
Appointments
Dr. Sherry L. Turner, former assistant to the president and secretary of the College,
has been appointed to serve as interim vice president for Student Development.
A. Michelle Smith, C’69, has been appointed assistant to the president and
interim secretary of the College.
In November 2005, Ms. Olivia Scriven, special adviser to Institutional Advancement,
was invited to serve on the Steering Committee of the Pfizer Women’s Health
Initiative. Pfizer awarded the College $300,000 for a three-year project that includes
the Pfizer Lecture Series. The series features prominent Black women physicians and
researchers.
Ms. Tomika DePriest, C’89, executive director of public relations/communications
has been selected to represent the College in the Metro Atlanta Arts Coalition
Leadership Development Program, the first-ever collaboration among local governments,
companies, foundations and arts organizations to support arts and culture in
the Atlanta region. The mission of MAAC? is to make the Atlanta region a premier
center for the arts and have it recognized as such.
Dr. Desiree Pedescleaux, dean of undergraduate studies, was elected president
of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists and will assume her office in
Atlanta at the annual meeting in March 2006.
Performances & Published Works
Dr. Karen Brakke, assistant professor of psychology, has two upcoming publications.
The first is a peer-reviewed article by Brakke, K.; Fragaszy, D.M.; Simpson, K.;
Hoy, E. & Cummins Sebree, S. (in press). The article, “The Production of Bimanual
Percussion ih2 to 24 Month-Old Children,” will appear in Infant Behavior and
Development. The second is a book chapter by Brakke, K.; Wilson, J.H., & Bradley,
D.V. (in press), “Beyond Basics: Enhancing Undergraduate Statistics Education,” in
Best Practices in Teaching Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology, edited
by D. Dunn, R. Smith & B. Beins.
From November 2005 through April 2006, the Spelman College music department is
presenting the Harreld-James Organ Recital Series to showcase the recently refurbished
Holtkamp pipe organ in the newly renovated historic Sisters Chapel. The
recitals will include Dr. Joyce F. Johnson, Spelman professor of music and college
organist for more than 50 years, on January 22, 2006, at 4 p.m. and Spelman
alumna Rebecca Hull Brown, C’75, organist at St. John The Evangelist
Catholic Church, on April 22, 2006, at 12 p.m. The recitals are free and open to the
public.
Dr. Marshalita Sims Peterson, associate professor of education, has published
the following articles: (1) “The Ethical Dilemmas of High Stakes Testing and Issues
for Teacher Preparation Programs,” which appeared in the Journal of College and
Character of October 2005; (2) “No Child Left Behind and the Mixed Mechanism of
Culture, Curriculum and Pedagogy,” which appeared in the September 2005 issue of
MultiCultural Review, and (3) “Peer Victimization: Creating a Culture for Learning
and Safe Classroom Communities,” which appeared in the August 2005 Special
Issue of Journal of Social Sciences. In addition, Dr. Peterson is the author and coeditor
of the book Instructing and Mentoring the African American College Student:
Strategies for Success in Higher Education. In October 2005, she appeared
on the Connect With Kids Network, which feeds to 70 affiliate stations throughout
the United States, discussing the importance of classroom size in the primary years.
Ms. Laura English-Robinson, C’69, lecturer of music, has released a CD
project, Great Day, a recording of Negro spirituals arranged for solo voice by Uzee
Brown Jr. Published by Roger Dean Publishing Company (The Lorenz
Corporation), this collaborative project features Ms. English-Robinson, soprano, as
well as bass baritone Uzee Brown Jr. and mezzo-soprano Crystal Harris, C’91.
Ms. English Robinson has five songs on the CD, including the first one, her
rendition of “Ain’t That Good News!”
Ms. Barbara Nesin, associate professor of art, was a participating visual artist in
“Café Medusa,” a female-centered evening of performance, visual art, spoken word,
drama, poetry, fiction, food, books, music, dance, song and film/video. The event
was held at 7 Stages Theatre on November 19, 2005, in Atlanta. Ms. Nesin’s article
“The Influence of Native American and African American Encounters on Haitian
Art,” was published in the Journal of Haitian Studies (University of California,
Santa Barbara).
Dr. Beatriz Cardelino, professor of chemistry, has published the following article:
“Advanced Computational Modeling for Growing III-V Materials in a High-Pressure
Chemical Vapor-Deposition Reactor;” B.H. Cardelino, C.E. Moore, C.A. Cardelino, N.
Dietz; in “Operational Characteristics and Crystal Growth of Nonlinear Optical
Materials II,” R. B. Lal and D. O. Frazier, editors; Proceedings of the International
Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE) Vol. 5912, 59120F1-14 (2005).
Dr. Marta Dark McNeese, assistant professor of physics, has published an article,
“Using Science Fiction Movies in Introductory Physics,” in the October 2005 issue of
The Physics Teacher.
On November 8, 2005, Dr. Harry G. Lefever, professor emeritus of sociology, was
invited by the Association of Emory Alumni (AEA) Book Club and the Caucus of
Emory Black Alumni (CEBA) to discuss his book, Undaunted by the Fight: Spelman
College and the Civil Rights Movement 1957–1967.
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