UCA’s Learning Communities and the Department of Writing hosted the 4th annual AfterWords, a first-year writing competition on Nov. 21.
The event was held in the Fireplace Room of McCastlain Hall. Thirty-three students read at this year’s AfterWords with guidance from Residential College writing faculty Tami Phillips, Cokey Allen, Tammy Scaife, Lisa Mongno, Shelle Stormoe, Sophie Bradford, Edwina Smith and Lanette Grate. Over 300 students and many families attended throughout the day.
The history of AfterWords is one of collaborative creation across academic programs. According to the AfterWords webpage: “In 2007, a small group of Writing Department faculty teaching in UCA’s Residential Colleges envisioned a writing competition with a difference: exclusively for freshmen by freshmen. The faculty felt a first-year writing competition could provide a real incentive and reward for good student writing by offering students the opportunity to share their writing with students from other classes, to learn from each other, and have their hard work publicly recognized and praised by peers and faculty. For the first time, first-year student writers could have a real audience. Further, the competition would provide model essays that can be analyzed, critiqued, and, when appropriate, emulated by other student writers. What is more, the Residential College writing faculty believed the competition would be a fascinating and diverse avenue for the UCA First-Year Community to wander down: a bazaar of topics, a marketplace of ideas, a store of discussion.”
UCA’s Learning Communities is excited to support and further such fine faculty ideas in the Residential/Commuter Colleges.
After a faculty reading presented by Greg Graham, Scott Payne, chair of Writing, and Carey Smitherman, director of First-Year Writing, presented the following student awards:
1st prize ($100): Andrea Eades from Short/Denney Residential College, Diving into the Ocean; Sophie Bradford, writing instructor
2nd prize ($75): Alexis Hendricks from Hughes Residential College, Strike Out; Tammy Scaife, writing instructor
3rd prize ($50): Justin Merkel from STEM Residential College, Racial Segregation in the UCA Greek System; Lanette Grate, writing instructor
Honorable Mentions ($25 each):
EDGE Residential College: Brittney Behr, A Free Spirit; Edwina Smith, writing instructor
STEM Residential College: Steven Bryce Wroten, Tainted Memories; Shelle Stormoe, writing instructor
Hughes Residential College: Ross Wheeler, The Learning Circle; Shelle Stormoe, writing instructor
Short/Denney Residential College: Caitlin Dewey, The Birds, the Bees, and Their Parents; Sophie Bradford, writing instructor
Minton Commuter College: Vera Bowie, My Miracle; Tammy Scaife, writing instructor
Best Reader Prize ($25): Brittney Behr, A Free Spirit; Edwina Smith, writing instructor
The 2011 AfterWords Committee included Dr. Carey Smitherman, director of First-Year Writing, writing faculty Lisa Mongno & Sophie Bradford, and Dr. Jayme Millsap Stone, director of Learning Communities.
As a senior international relations student at the University of Central Arkansas I have had the opportunity to study the impacts of globalization, economic development projects, and international financial and political entities on local communities. There is no doubt that we live in an increasingly interconnected world in which our communities are no longer bound by geographical limitations. Across the globe, once isolated communities are now being integrated into the global economy. For some, this has meant an increased standard of living and a higher quality of life. But for others it has meant further marginalization, rising income inequality, and the loss of cultural, economic and political sovereignty. In developing my Honors thesis I wanted to explore the hidden social costs of this new political and economic paradigm. I wanted to study how the rights, concerns, and livelihoods of local communities have changed in an increasingly globalized world.
Dr. John Vanderslice had his short story “No. 117” accepted for publication by the journal Mobius. Also, his play “Visa” was chosen for the UCA Theatre Department’s annual Festival of One Acts. The Festival of One Acts ran during the first week of December. Vanderslice is an associate professor in the Department of Writing.
Dr. Clayton Crockett, associate professor and director of Religious Studies program, took part in an interview that recently aired as a podcast on a website called Homebrewed Christianity, 
Dr. David Welky, associate professor of history, is the editor of America Between the Wars, 1919-1941, a collection of documents related to the era’s political, cultural, economic, and social history, published by Wiley-Blackwell Press of Great Britain. With extensive introductions, illustrations, discussion questions, the anthology is designed for use in college history classes. Dr. Welky is the author of four other books on the social and cultural history of twentieth-century America, including most recently The Thousand Year Flood: The 1937 Ohio-Mississippi Disaster (University of Chicago Press, 2011).
Dr. Jim Guinee, director of training and supervision in the counseling center and adjunct professor, recently presented on “The fundamentals of grief counseling” and “Dreams and nightmares of trauma survivors” at the Arkansas Counselor Association conference in Hot Springs.
Dr. Letha J. Mosley, assistant professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy, was the keynote speaker for the Interfaith Leadership Health Summit held Nov. 19 on the campus of Delware State University in Dover, Delaware. The summit was organized by Nemours.
Mary Jo Cooley Hidecker, assistant professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders has completed her M.S. in Epidemiology from Michigan State University. Her master’s thesis is titled “Communication and eating data collected by cerebral palsy registries.”
Dr. Xinping Li, visiting assistant professor of mathematics, presented a paper titled “An anistropic mesh adaptation method for the finite element solution of heterogeneous anistropic diffusion problems” at the Fall 2011 Finite Element CIrcus at the University of Connecticut, Avery Point Campus on Oct. 15.
Dr. Umadevi Garimella, director of the UCA STEM Institute, presented a workshop titled “Am I a Living Nut?” at the 2011 National Association of the Biology Teachers Conference held in Anaheim, Calif. on Oct. 15, 2011. Through hands-on activities, Garimella presented strategies for teaching two universal life science standards-characteristcs of living things and classification. Garimella also presented another paper, titled UCA Science Lead Teacher Institute – The Impact of the Arkansas Mathematics and Science Partnership Program at the 2011 Annual Conference of the Mid-South Educational Research Association held on the campus of the University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss. on Nov. 5. The paper was co-authored with Dr. Gail Hughes of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Dr. Carolyn Williams of UCA.
Dr. R.B. Lenin, assistant professor of mathematics, presented a paper, “Modeling and simulation of patient flows in the Department of OB/GYN at UAMS” at the 2011 Predictive Analytics with Simulation Conference held in Orlando, Florida, from Oct. 30 – Nov. 3. This project work is part of an effort at UAMS to improve efficiency and patient flow in the outpatient clinics. The paper was co-authored with Dr. Hari Easwaran of UAMS.
Dr. Weijiu Liu, associate professor of mathematics at UCA, has authored a textbook titled “Introduction to Modeling Biological Cellular Control Systems,” published by Springer, which is due for release in January 2012 in its series: Modeling, Simulation and Applications. The book offers a mathematical model of numerous cellular control systems such as the glucose and intracellular calcium control systems in living organisms.
Karen Steelman, associate professor of chemistry, attended a Rock Art Methods mini-conference in late November near Comstock, Texas on the Shumla School campus, a nonprofit archaeological research and education center. Steelman uses radiocarbon dating techniques to determine the age of pigments in rock paintings. The meeting was co-sponsored by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). Organized by Dr. Meg Conkey (University of California at Berkeley), this meeting is an opportunity for American and French researchers to interact and learn from each country were invited.
Belinda Robertson, UCA STEM Institute mathematics specialist, is now a certified Online Professional Development (OPD) Specialist. Robertson successfully completed the EdTEch Leaders Online Program’s Facilitating and Implementing Online Professional Development course. She is certified to develop and facilitate on-line workshops for the UCA STEM Institute and the Arkansas Department of Education.
A new residential college that allows students to immerse themselves in global learning officially opened its doors on Nov. 9.