June 2009

Faculty Notebook

Bart Dredge Named Minnie Stevens Piper Professor

art Dredge

“Bart Dredge is a most deserving recipient of this award,” said Jerry Johnson, dean of Social Sciences. “Bart’s teaching success is the result of a tremendous amount of organization and preparation. He sets the standard that others try to follow.”

A member of the Austin College faculty since 1994, Dredge earned his undergraduate degree at Furman University and completed his master’s degree and Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the former director of Austin College freshman seminar Communication/Inquiry (C/I, and JanTerm programs.

Dredge teaches a variety of courses that include “Classical Social Theory,” “Social Movements,” “Law and Society,” and “Sociology of Religion.” He also engages students in occasional courses on “Issues in Higher Education,” “The Social History of American Education (K–12),” and “The Social Gospel Movement in the United States.” Dredge’s research centers on labor in the American South, especially the Southern textile industry prior to World War II.

He has been published recently in Arete: An International Journal of Social Work History; Vitae Scholasticae (educational biography); Libraries and the Cultural Record; and Management and Organizational History. Dredge is currently working on a series of projects that stem from his study of the life and work of David Clark, textile industry booster and long-time editor of the Southern Textile Bulletin in North Carolina.

The Piper Professor Program began in 1958 with eight awards. The program’s roster of honorees includes outstanding professors from two- and four-year public and private institutions.

Dredge joins a distinguished list of seven other Austin College professors who have earned Piper Professorships dating back to 1959, only the second year of the awards. Current faculty members honored by the foundation include Clyde Hall, professor emeritus of economics; Ken Street, professor emeritus of government; Shelton Williams, professor emeritus of political science; Jerry Lincecum, professor emeritus of English; and Light Cummins, professor of history and Guy M. Bryan Chair of American History.

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Governor Names Professor Light Cummins as Texas State Historian

Texas Governor Rick Perry appointed Light Townsend Cummins of the Austin College history faculty as Texas State Historian on May 12. Cummins was officially sworn-in to office by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst on May 26 during a ceremony at the Texas State Capitol. Victoria Cummins, Light’s wife and an Austin College professor of history, stood with him at the ceremony.

“I am deeply honored by this appointment,” said Cummins, Guy M. Bryan, Jr., Chair of American History and director of the Center for Southwestern and Mexican Studies at Austin College. “It is a reaffirmation of the solid academic programs that distinguish Austin College, especially offerings in Texas history and Southwestern studies. It has been my good fortune to have taught many students who have had a marked interest in Texas history over my 31 years on the faculty at Austin College, many of whom have graduated to distinguish themselves in a wide variety of careers by which they have advanced Texas and the Southwest.”

Cummins is the second to hold the honorary designation of Texas State Historian, created by the Texas legislature in 2005. During his two-year term, Cummins is expected to enhance Texans’ knowledge about state history and its heritage, encourage the teaching of Texas history in public schools, and consult with government officials on the promotion of Texas history. Cummins was recommended to the post by the Texas Historical Commission (THC) and the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). “As State Historian, Light Cummins has a superior opportunity to provide Texans insight into their heritage,” said TSHA past-president. Larry McNeill, who attended the swearing-in. “His effusive personality as well as his understanding of Texas history will serve our state well in this regard.”

THC executive director Larry Oaks also attended the ceremony. “Dr. Light Cummins is a master of enriching people’s lives through history,” Oaks said. “He has written several books on the history of the Lone Star State and received numerous awards for his scholarly research and accomplishments. We look forward to working with him.

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Fontana Named to Smith Distinguished Teaching Professorship

Jeffrey Fontana, associate professor of art history, was installed in the Harry E. Smith Distinguished Teaching Professorship in Art History during Honors Convocation in April.  

Fontana joined the Austin College faculty in 2002 as assistant professor of art history and was promoted in 2007 to associate professor. He received his bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in art history at Boston University. Before coming to Austin College, he taught at Colgate University, Vassar College, and Florida State University, and taught summer courses for Boston College in Florence, Italy. He was a Straus Intern in the drawing department at the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University, where he curated the 1999 exhibition “Timeless Beauty: Representing the Ideal in Neoclassical Drawing.”

The Harry E. Smith Distinguished Endowed Teaching Professorship in Art History was established in 1994 by the Board of Trustees in honor of then-retiring Harry E. Smith, 13th president of Austin College. Friends and family of Smith helped fund the endowed professorship, as did a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) challenge grant.

Smith, who served as president from 1978 to 1984, died in 2002.

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Faculty Receive Fulbright Awards

vette Vargas-O’Bryan, associate professor of religious studies, and Kevin Simmons, associate professor of economics, have been awarded Fulbright Scholar grants they will use during sabbaticals in the 2009–2010 academic year.

Vargas-O’Bryan’s grant will be used for teaching a course entitled “Religions and Society in Asia” at City University of Hong Kong in fall 2009. She also will complete research in Tibet and China for a book on the interrelationship between Tibetan medicine and religion in the religious lineages of a Kashmiri Buddhist nun, popular in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition from the 11th century to the present day.

“Teaching at a Chinese academic institution will help me build relationships with colleagues in China that could potentially lead to collaborative work and future study abroad opportunities for faculty and students,” Vargas-O’Bryan said. “This opportunity came at a critical time with Austin College’s focus on global education. “I am very excited to network with area scholars at City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, and several institutions in Tibet.” She also will organize a panel and make a presentation on Tibetan and Himalayan medicine and religion at the International Association for the Study of Traditional Asian Medicine Conference in Bhutan on September 7-11.

Simmons will utilize his Fulbright grant during spring 2010, conducting research at the International Centre for Geohazards (ICG) in Oslo, Norway. The ICG researches the assessment, prevention, and mitigation of geohazards, including risk of landslide in soil and rock due to rainfall, flooding, earthquakes, and human intervention, and geological risks in deep waters, especially underwater slides.

Simmons also will work with the U.S. Geological Survey before and after his  Fulbright research in Norway and hopes for continued collaborative work that can involve Austin College students with the federal agency. “Most of my research has been on wind hazards,” he said. “This grant gives me the opportunity to expand my research on economics and natural hazards into a different type of hazard. Any time I broaden my research agenda, it positively impacts what I can do in the classroom.”

Read more information about the Fulbright Program.

At Honors Convocation, Simmons also was announced as the College’s CASE Professor of the Year nominee. Recipients will be announced in the fall. The nomination itself is an Austin College teaching award.

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Barton Receives 2009 Austin College Excellence in Teaching Award

ance Barton, assistant professor of biology, was awarded the 2009 Austin College Excellence in Teaching Award during Honors Convocation in April. The award recognizes the fundamental importance of the quality of teaching in the education process. “I was pleasantly shocked and surprised by the recognition,,” Barton said. “It is always interesting to hear about innovative pedagogy that your colleagues are using in their classrooms, but you never expect your name to be called.”

Overall, Barton describes himself as a skills-oriented professor. “I tell all my students, from freshmen to seniors, that while I want my students to retain knowledge; I'm even more interested in their application of knowledge,” he said. “Can they pull the textbook off the shelf and use that information to solve problems?” His primary goal in all of his classes is to get his students to think about and solve novel problems. “I try to gently push my students past their comfort zone in lab, lecture, and even on exams.” For freshman students, that may mean thinking about the genetics of Smurfs, dragons, or even Gremlins; while upperclassmen expect to read primary scientific literature in his classes and design experiments or even analyze data or figures on exams. Former students seem to remember unique aspects of Barton’s classes like the “pirate exam,” their outbreak scenario labs, or even reading an original scientific article from the 1960s on which the textbook is based.

While he prides himself on challenging his students, Barton also has worked extensively with colleagues to enhance the core sequence in biology. “We have developed a peer mentoring system to get our majors working with and teaching our new students,” he said. “These students can serve as role models for younger students; teaching them about the course content, the major, and even opportunities like student-faculty collaborative research.”  In addition to a peer-mentoring program, Barton also uses a classroom response system to gauge student learning and get immediate feedback in the classroom.  “I find it extremely helpful for everyone, if we can pause and get a real snapshot of how many students are following along in class,” Barton said. “I know if the material is being presented clearly and the students find out if this is a topic they need to review more closely or see the peer mentor for help.” 

A big proponent of student-faculty collaborative research, Barton has mentored more than 20 students in the research lab in the past five years. "Student-faculty collaborative research is the single best teaching opportunity we have,” Barton said. “Research is unique because I am working one-on-one or in small groups with students to answer open-ended questions or explore new aspects of biology; to go where no one has gone before.”  He has worked with several colleagues in the sciences to develop and sustain an annual symposium for research students to present their findings on campus. His students have made numerous presentations on campus and at professional meetings while preparing themselves for post-graduate degree programs. Several of his former students are pursuing M.D., Ph.D., and M.D./Ph.D. degrees at universities all over the nation. “It is most rewarding for me to hear from alumni who have gone on to be successful and acknowledge my classes or their experience in my lab as good preparation for what they encountered in medical school, graduate school, or at work.”

Barton, who came to Austin College in 2003, earned a bachelor's degree in biology at Dickinson College (Pennsylvania) and a Ph.D. in immunology from the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine. He completed the Preparing Future Faculty program at UC and was an adjunct faculty member at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati before joining the Austin College faculty.. Barton was recognized for outstanding teaching efforts within the Science Division in 2007 and for his work with student organizations in 2005. He also was awarded tenure and promoted to associate professor effective in fall 2009.

“Between my experiences at Dickinson and at the Mount, I found several great role models of successful scientist-teachers,” Barton said. “I knew that was what I wanted to do. I get to do a little science, I get to work with talented students, and I get to develop great relationships and have a lot fun along the way."

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Professional Activities

Tom Baker, professor of education, presented a paper, “Multiple Field Experiences for Pre-Service Teachers: Working with Ethnically and Economically Diverse Schools in a Small City,” at the Association of Teacher Educators national conference, held in Dallas, Texas, on February 16. He also spoke as a member of the panel on “Teachers’ Practices and Professionalism” at that conference. He wrote the chapter “Hope and Heart in Action: Case Studies of Teacher Interns Reaching Students,” which was included in Affective Teacher Education: Exploring Connections Among Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions, edited by Patrice LeBlanc and Nancy Gallavan and published by Rowman and Littlefield.

Wayne Crannell, associate professor of music and director of choral music, spent 10 days in Scotland during January. Funded by a Cullen Grant, he scouted locations for his next January Term course. He also took photos and video footage for a video posted on his January course Web site. 

Peter A. DeLisle, Crane Chair in Leadership Studies, attended the West Point Global Leadership Conference at the United States Military Academy as a guest of the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership on March 25-26. The program included international military and civilian scholars and general and staff officers who examined the challenge of “Understanding the Human Dimension in an Era of Persistent Volatility.” DeLisle also made a presentation at the International Community Leadership Association annual conference in Long Beach, California, on April 25. His paper, “The Propensity for Engagement,” presented the factors contributing to the likelihood of women and men to make the commitment to actively and effectively lead communities, as advocates for growth and social responsibility.

Jeffrey Fontana, associate professor of art history, presented the paper “Lomazzo on Northern Italian Painting: Titian, Correggio, and Barocci” in the session “Art and Art Theory: Northern Italy and Northern European Artists” at the meeting of the Renaissance Society of America in March 2009 in Los Angeles, California.

Jerry Lincecum, professor emeritus of English, and Peggy Redshaw, professor of biology, are celebrating the 20th year of “Telling Our Stories,” the humanities program in autobiography and family history they launched at Austin College in 1990. In honor of the anniversary, a friendship quilt with the names of 72 local authors who have published stories in two or more of the Telling Our Stories books has been created. Two books by founding members of the group also were released. In addition, Lincecum presented papers on Ruby Allmond, a noted Fannin County fiddler and composer of country music, at the spring meeting of the East Texas Historical Society and the Centennial meeting of the Texas Folklore Society.

Janet Huber Lowry, retired associate professor of sociology, completed her year as president of the Southwestern Sociological Association (SSA) and was honored in April at the SSA and the Southwestern Social Science Association meeting in Denver, Colorado, for her service to the organizations. She will complete past-president duties to the SSA in 2010 at the association’s meeting in Houston, Texas. Lowry is working as a census numerator or lister, doing address canvassing in Indiana, and enjoys the hands-on experience after many years of teaching about population and using demographic data in her courses.

Todd Penner, associate professor of religious studies and Cloud Professor in Religion, was invited to Oslo, Norway, March 5-6 to present the paper “’Home Is Where the Heart Is’ — A Concluding Methodological Prescript” for the “Holy Land as Homeland? Models for Constructing the Historic Landscapes of Jesus” Seminar. This seminar was organized by the Norway Research Council project “Jesus in Cultural Complexity” and was hosted by the theology faculty of the University of Oslo. Penner also presented an invited lecture, “Foucault and a Gender-Critical Approach to Early Christian Writings,” on March 16 at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, sponsored by the Department of Religious Studies. In June, Penner completes his participation in the 2008–2009 Colloquy for Mid-Career Religion Faculty Teaching at Colleges and Universities, held at the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Finally, together with Susanne Scholz of Perkins School of Theology at SMU and Ivette Vargas-O'Bryan of Austin College, Penner organized a research seminar conference, “Texts and Otherness: Politics, Empire, and Post-Secularism in Religious Studies,” held May 3-4 and hosted by Marc Ellis, professor of Jewish studies at the Center for Jewish Studies at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

Randi Tanglen, assistant professor of English, presented a paper on May 23 at the American Literature Association’s annual conference in Boston, Massachusetts. The paper, “‘In Reference to Eternity’: Disinterested Benevolence, Romantic Racialism, and the Millennial Implications of Slavery in The Minister’s Wooing (1859),” is part of a panel sponsored by the Harriet Beecher Stowe Society. 

Ivette Vargas-O'Bryan, associate professor of religious studies, presented a paper, “Religion and Medicine in Buddhist Studies: The Fertile Fields in the Politics of Negotiation and Resistance,” for the  conference “Text and Otherness: Politics, Empire, and Post-Secularism in Religious Studies” in May at The Center for Jewish Studies at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. She helped organize that conference with Todd Penner. Vargas-O'Bryan was nominated to participate in the workshop “Beauty in the Worlds of Islam” April 3-4 at the University of Texas at Austin. She also chaired the Southwest Commission on Religious Studies (SWCRS) Comparative and Asian Studies in Religion section in Irving, Texas, in March and continues to serve as elected board member-at-large of the commission. As part of the Dallas City Arts Celebration, Vargas-O'Bryan was invited to present a lecture on Tibetan art at the Trammell and Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art Gallery in Dallas, Texas, on June 15-16. Devin Gonier ’09 presented a paper at the SWCRS conference on Tibetan medicine, based on research from his Mellon project with Vargas-O’Bryan.

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June 2009  

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